Summer school is in: Arctic Spartans polish skills in Exercise Spartan Agoge

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- In ancient Sparta, young men were required to attend Agoge, a school which instilled the principles of and taught the skills necessary for being a part of a warrior society. Due to a typical high seasonal turnover rate after the unit's rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC), the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division held an Agoge of its own.

More than 2,000 paratroopers from across the six Spartan battalions focused on combat skills from company-specific tasks all the way up to brigade-level combat maneuvers here and at the Donnelly Training Area in Delta Junction, Alaska Aug. 15-29.

"It's important to be as good as you can be in your own realm," said Lt. Col. James Uptgraft, commander of 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. "We talk about being brilliant in the basics and that's what we're hammering into our new guys here; you don't have to have all the answers right up front, but . . . be as good as you can be at what you do. What we're trying to accomplish only works if everyone can do their part, from bottom to top."

The second week of Spartan Agoge saw individual unit training increase with the addition of two planned battalion-level Joint Forcible Entry Exercises (JFEX) featuring 1-501 PIR and 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Only 1-501 PIR was able to execute an actual JFEX as inclement weather scratched that planned by 3-509 PIR.

"This summer we had a lot of new leaders, jumpmasters and junior paratroopers transition into the unit and the positions they are in," said Lt. Col. Matthew Hardman, then commander of 3-509 PIR. "These new troops have experience at the company level doing their jobs, but they haven't been able to pull off a real exercise since JRTC in February. Now is an opportunity for us to really bring it all together in daylight because in October it's going to be all night operations here in Alaska."

Both planned airborne operations encompassed long flights with in-flight combat rigging and aerial refueling, simulating the types of operations an Arctic airborne unit would typically engage in. The exercise was supported by U.S. Air Force aircraft and crews from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

"We have the strategic capability here in Alaska to project power for the United States," Hardman said. "Whether that's a real-life [Joint Forcible Entry Operation] against an adversary or it's putting paratroopers on the ground for disaster relief or some other type of assistance, it demonstrates to our allies our Arctic airborne capability, which is unique to this brigade. It is also a real deterrent to potential adversaries across the world. We demonstrate that we are constantly training and constantly capable to complete any mission given to us."

Although Spartan Agoge concluded Aug. 29, the brigade is already looking forward to its next brigade-level exercise -- Exercise Spartan Cerberus -- which it plans to execute in mid-October and will again put its joint forcible entry capabilities to the test.