GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - The 2d Cavalry Regiment conducted Bayonet Challenge Nov. 26 -- Dec. 9, 2016 at Camp Aachen in the Grafenwoehr Training Area.The command post exercise, which was in conjunction with 18th Military Police Brigade and 173rd Airborne Brigade's exercises, was designed to authenticate the staff's ability to conduct command post operations and prepare the regiment/brigades for future operations and multinational exercises that will take place in 2017."It is good for us to have force interaction. We're working with 18th MP and 173rd in an environment that often times we are spread out throughout Atlantic Resolve. Our interactions are intermittent," said Maj. J. Clint Tisserand, executive officer for 2nd Cavalry Regiment. "It's good for us to get together every now and again to actually work together as a team."The intention for the exercise was to ensure staff members are proficient in acquiring and analyzing information, providing recommendations to the command group and disseminating orders to subordinate units. The training is mainly focused on staff members, not the Soldiers. Each summer, at least a third of the staff changes out, making it essential for new staff to integrate, Tisserand explained. "With this new staff, (the exercise) is allowing us to work on our systems, more specifically on our planning process.""For us right now, the training goals that we have coming out of this exercise is really to work on quantifying some of the regimental systems to refine the Standard Operating Procedures for the regiment and how the regimental staff interacts with the squadron staffs," he added.The staff also worked on the Tactical Operations Center SOP and how reports are received from the regiment to the squadrons and then how they are sent to the Soldiers who are in the fight."This whole exercise is to train the staff so that we are doing what we need to do to support the war fighter in the end," Tisserand concluded.