FORT RILEY, Kansas -- Members of the Fort Riley U.S. Army Garrison Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security joined senior leadership of the 1st Infantry Division for a Combined Arms Rehearsal prior to beginning the Danger Focus exercise occurring between April 28 and June 3.
The rehearsal took place April 21 at the Close Combat Tactical Training facility on the Seitz Regional Training Campus at Fort Riley.
Maj. Gen. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., commanding general of the 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley joined Brig. Gen. Patrick D. Frank, 1st Inf. Div. deputy commanding general for support and Brig. Gen. John S. Kolasheski, 1st Inf. Div. deputy commanding general for maneuver, were in attendance.
The intent was to synchronize actions and movements in both time and space, according to Clay Nauman, DPTMS Plans and Operations Chief.
"That synchronization is in terms of weapons systems, aircraft and logistics routes," said Nauman. "DPTMS's overall priority is to ensure the safety of all personnel involved in this complex training event."
Weapons include small arms, mortars, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, cannon artillery, attack helicopters and unmanned aerial systems.
Over the coming weeks, Danger Focus will escalate from practice and simulation, to the firing of blanks before culminating in a live-fire exercise. The DPTMS Training Division has been preparing for Danger Focus since the end of the Warfighter exercise April 15.
Danger Focus is based on a situation in which two fictional countries are in conflict. One nation is a coalition partner with the United States and her allies, while the other is an opposition nation with her own allies. For the purpose of this exercise, the 1st Infantry Division is partnered with other American forces, and those American assets are combined into a multinational force.
While the premise is fictional, the area of operations is the region around Fort Riley.
The terrain board rehearsal required a large amount of space on which to lay out a grid for unit designations, and the CCTT building was an ideal location for the rehearsal which helps prepare field commanders for the simulation and live-fire portions of the exercise.
Earlier this year, division leaders employed the terrain board rehearsal as a part of a comprehensive leader development training program led by Kolasheski, who is the senior officer mentor for the 'Big Red One.' Developed during several months in which many battalion commanders were changing over, the program is designed for incoming maneuver and fires battalion commanders to provide a running start in commanding their units in the field.
In a Feb. 26 story in the 1st Infantry Division Post, Kolasheski said terrain board rehearsals give commanders "the opportunity to think through an NTC (National Training Center) fight so when his actual unit goes there, he (the battalion commander) has already considered different ways to execute some of his possible assigned missions."
The program is bearing fruit now as the 1st Inf. Div., gears up for further training at NTC in Fort Irwin, California, in advance of eventual deployment later this year.
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