FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- "We were surprised by how violently they attacked through (the objectives)," said Maj. Ben Jackman, who led the opposing force, or OPFOR, against the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), during their Mountain Peak rotation.
Jackman, whose comment came during the midpoint after action review, was referring to an assault with both helicopter and ground insertions that displaced his own forces from several villages in Fort Drum's vast training area.
That aggressiveness could be found throughout the Warrior Brigade.
"I wanted to be in the decisive operation," said Pfc. Ian Vail, an infantryman serving as a radio telephone operator with A Company, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, whose own unit supported the assault with a ground insertion south of the main objective to distract the enemy.
It was a simple plan, boldly executed.
"That's audacity," said Col. Scott Naumann, 1st BCT commander.
Simple is better.
"Keep working on the fundamentals until you have made them simple," said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey L. Bannister, 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum commander. "Units that burn in the fundamentals will succeed."
This is the second iteration of the Mountain Peak exercise for 2016, following 2nd Brigade Combat Team's October rotation. It is the largest scale training event on Fort Drum, allowing a full brigade combat team -- some 4,000 members strong -- to train with a host of enablers, many of which come from the Army's reserve components.
Mountain Peak saw the Warrior Brigade deploy to the fictional nation of Atropia to defend it against the invasion of a hostile neighbor.
Although the training scenarios are fictitious, they are largely based on what U.S. forces could face if deployed, and they give the unit multiple opportunities to practice its craft.
"We need to be agile thinkers," said Col. Scott Naumann, 1st BCT commander. "The processes we use are the same, regardless of the problem set."
Mountain Peak allows reserve-component units to integrate and collaborate with their active-duty counterparts, something not readily available at their home station, said Maj. Mike Marra, commander of the Army Reserve's C Company, 401st Civil Affairs Battalion, out of Webster.
"Our team was excited to have this opportunity to train with such an experienced division," he said.
The civil affairs Soldiers proved invaluable as the scenario included historical, cultural and religious sites that the units had to maneuver around and through, being careful to cause no harm.
Such training enhances force protection as recent studies show that, in Afghanistan, the potential for International Security Assistance Forces to be attacked increases by 30 percent in cases where a cemetery, mosque or shrine has been damaged in some way, according to Dr. Laurie Rush, Fort Drum cultural resources manager.
Rush's team not only handles the archaeological studies on Fort Drum, they played the role of the Atropian Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Antiquities, a cabinet-level office; held a key leader meeting with a delegation from the Warrior Brigade, including Naumann, and even placed cultural artifacts in the training area for the Soldiers to find and handle appropriately.
"I think that (it) was the first time in the history of the modern American Army that a cultural property inject was included in a major exercise," Rush said.
The weather was yet another obstacle that proved no match for the Warrior Brigade's tenacity.
The cold has been a revelation, according to Staff Sgt. Aaron Kichline, senior medic with B Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment.
"A lot of guys learned how the systems the Army fields will keep them alive," he said. "It was wet and it was cold, but they barreled through it and got the job done."
"We are the only division in the Army to wear the Mountain tab," Naumann said. "We've earned it in the past few weeks with our grit and determination."
Next up for the Warrior Brigade is a March rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., where they will reunite with the other enablers that took part in Mountain Peak.
Other participating Army units include the 237th Military Police Company, New Hampshire National Guard; 445th Chemical Company, Illinois National Guard; 1st Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Campbell, Ky.; 305th Psychological Operations Company, Fort Lee, Va., U.S. Army Reserve; 687th Engineer Company (Horizontal), Fort Polk, La., and 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, Utah Army National Guard.
Fort Drum's own 20th Air Support Operations Squadron and Detachment 1, 18th Weather Squadron, U.S. Air Force, as well as the 336th Fighter Squadron, from North Carolina, trained with 1st BCT. They were joined by the Air Force Reserve's 343rd Bomber Squadron, based in Louisiana, and New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Squadron.
Elements from the Marine Corps Forces Reserve's Marine Light Helicopter Squadron, out of New Jersey, also participated.
Preparation for the training event has taken months and troops began moving to their field sites on Nov. 29, with the Warrior Brigade's tactical operations center setting up shop on Fort Drum's Division Hill.
The 10th Mountain Division's 2nd BCT "Commandos" provided the opposing forces that put the Warrior Brigade through its paces on the battlefield.
Training wrapped up on Dec. 9, as 1st BCT successfully defended against a counterattack into the territory they recently liberated.
Bannister addressed the leadership of the Warrior Brigade and summed up the team's performance succinctly.
"You have a great approach and a winning tone."
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