With the support of more than 3,000 active duty, National Guard and reserve Soldiers, the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, wasted no time in staging, loading and securing more than 1,300 pieces of equipment, including tracked and wheeled vehicles, onto railcars Feb. 3-20 for shipment to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.
The "Dagger" brigade will be conducting its second decisive-action training environment rotation in preparation for a possible worldwide availability beginning this summer. It is one of the first units in the Army to go through two consecutive rotations. First, however, the unit must ensure it has the proper equipment and training needed to complete its NTC rotation.
"A movement like this is planned six months in advance," Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jovan R. Baldwin, the brigade mobility officer, said. "Once we received the training dates from NTC, we backwards planned to create a movement plan or deployment timeline, under the guidance of the brigade commander, to meet NTC's intent."
Baldwin and his team coordinated all the moving pieces to get not only the Dagger brigade Soldiers and all of their equipment to NTC, but also that of the enabling units participating in this rotation.
As part of the brigade's movement planning process, senior leaders and key leaders from the brigade, division headquarters, 1st Sustainment Brigade, 89th Military Police Brigade, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade and employees at Camp Funston met for a movement-of-equipment, combined-arms rehearsal.
"The purpose of the combined arms rehearsal was to synchronize our efforts to ensure that we successfully transport all our equipment to the railhead," Maj. Serafina Sauia, the 82nd Engineer Battalion executive officer, said. "Everyone had their own piece of the mission to accomplish, and this rehearsal helped us better understand how our small piece contributed to the whole."
While many Soldiers focused on the logistical side of preparing for the month-long rotation, others were getting in some last-minute training to become better acquainted with aspects of their jobs.
Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, recently underwent the Army's flagship gaming simulation program, Virtual Battlespace 3, at the Fort Riley Mission Training Complex and Close Combat Tactical Trainer. The unit trains frequently using simulations to better prepare its Soldiers for its decisive-action training environment rotation at the National Training Center.
"This training is a modification of the mission we will be conducting at the national training center later this year," Lt. Col. Andy Sanchez, the battalion commander, said. "It's like a mounted digital rehearsal of all of my company commanders, platoon leaders and junior leaders that are exercising their operations out of the Close Combat Tactical Trainer."
The VBS3 provides Soldiers with real world scenarios, in this case NTC, computer based trainer Patrick Lynch said. The system is set up in multiple rooms throughout the MTC to replicate a tactical operation center. The unit's Bradley crews are located inside the CCTT but they are still able to communicate with the TOC. Also in the main TOC, the commander can see and hear in real time everything taking place on the battlefield.
In one of the rooms were the units combat engineers who were experiencing virtual training like this for the first time.
"This system integrates us with the rest of the battalion on the battlefield," Spc. Timothy Skau, a combat engineer assigned to Company A, 82nd Engineer Battalion, said. "It mimics very closely the actions we would take in real-life so closely. … I almost forgot we were in this room."
As the brigade's Soldiers continue their preparations for NTC, multiple town hall meetings took place on Fort Riley.
"The battalions are holding multiple town hall meetings throughout the month," Col. Miles Brown, the 2nd ABCT commander, said. "We can't thank our family members enough for all the sacrifices they have made and continue to make."
The brigade also hosted a virtual town hall meeting, which is available on the brigade's Facebook page, for families to later refer to as needed. The page can be located at www.facebook.com/2ABCT1ID.
"We can't do what we do without the support of the family and friends of the Dagger brigade," Brown said.
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