POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, Hawaii -- In a remote part of the island of Hawai'i that is reminiscent of Afghanistan, the sounds of M2 .50 caliber machine gun fire and Soldiers yelling commands could be heard. The 'Black Wolves' militant group were pressing against a fortified base manned by Soldiers from the 25th Sustainment Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, with no avail. From amidst the gun fire, the leader of the opposing militant forces calls a cease fire and rounds up his group of no more than 10 Soldiers, to meet with the commander from the Special Troops Battalion, 25th Sust. Bde. As real as it may have seemed, the battle that had occurred was all part of the Sustainment Brigade's culminating exercise U'ila Pau.
Soldiers from the 25th Sust. Bde. began this 26 day training exercise on 15 May and ended it on 9 June at the Pohakuloa Training Area. The purpose of this large scale exercise was to increase Sustainer's ability to fortify and defend themselves in austere environments with no help from combat arms Soldiers.
"We wanted them to be proficient at conducting convoys, self-securing their convoys and securing bases on their own," said Cpt. James Degan the assistant operations officer for the 25th Sust. Bde.
The training began with a week of ranges designed to have Soldiers focus on honing their skills on their assigned weapons and crew served weapons. This time allowed them to qualify and become familiar with their weapons at both day and night.
"The range week was really a multi-faceted event," said Degan. "Being in sustainment, we are very focused on supporting other units in the 25th Inf. Div., and on the island of Oahu. So that week helped prepare Soldiers for the base defense and perimeter live fire exercises by letting have time to focus on their individual weapon systems rather than sustainment."
Following the range week, Soldiers geared up and moved out to Forward Operating Bases and were tasked with defending them from scenario based opposing forces. These opposing forces were composed of designated Soldiers from within the brigade whose mission was to test the defensive skills of the brigade.
"We were trying to see what kind of reaction they would have to our Opposing Force injections during the base defense portion of the training," said Sgt. 1st Class John Berry, the noncommissioned officer of the opposing force. "We wanted to try and cause confusion by doing things that they wouldn't expect us to do."
From encountering displaced civilians on the battle field to direct force on force combat, Sustainers were hit with a seemingly never ending barrage of opposing force scenarios. Once event even required the unit to react to a mass casualty event after a notional vehicle borne explosive device detonated outside of the base. Every bit of training the brigade had received was put to the test during this exercise.
"As Sustainers, this training is important because these are the kind of threats they will encounter when they deploy," said Berry.
After more than a week of attacks from the opposing force, Sustainers moved on to the last phase of the exercise, perimeter live fire. During this exercise, a platoon of Soldiers had to negotiate a lane in their assigned gun trucks and secure a perimeter by destroying notional targets. Effective communication and superior firing skills were essential to accomplishing this task during.
"Usually a sustainment unit would request a military police platoon or an armor platoon to assist with securing them, but those assets are not always available so it is important that we know how to secure ourselves," said Degan.
Though the month long exercise was long and grueling, the Soldiers of the 25th Sust. Bde. proved their combat effectiveness in an unforgiving environment. Now armed with lethal knowledge and the experience of defending themselves, the 25th Sustainment Brigade is prepared to accomplish any mission.
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