TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. – Fox Company, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade (Fox 1-1), 1st Infantry Division, “Gray Eagle,” executes unmanned flight operations from Marine Corps Base, Twentynine Palms, in support of Maneuver Warfare Exercise 22-1 from Sept. 24, 2021 to Nov. 5, 2021.
The Gray Eagles participated in the U.S. Marine Corps-led exercise in order to train flight crews in a dynamic environment and to foster working relationships with joint conventional and special operations forces. NATO ground and air forces also took part in this event to further prepare for integration on a future near-peer battlefield.
U.S. Army Maj. Richard Kubu, the commander of Fox 1-1, explained why this type of training is vital.
“When we’re focusing on large-scale combat operations, it’s important to understand how we integrate the giant cog that is the joint force,” said Kubu. “This helps us to build the tactics, trainings, and procedures in a safe training environment so that when we do go out there and actually have to fight we will be ready. We’ll never fight in a war with only one branch of the military, we’re always going to fight together with our NATO partners, so it’s important that we all know how each other operates.”
With interoperability and relationship building being a key part of this exercise, Kubu spoke on the challenges of this important aspect of the training.
“We all come from different backgrounds, we speak different languages, or we use different terminology, so naturally it does create a barrier in streamlining processes,” said Kubu. “Additionally, in any kind of exercise where there are a lot of unknowns, building that reputation and that understanding in what we can bring to bear is extremely important to establish so we can maximize our support.”
While tackling the challenges that come with building a rapport with our sister-services and NATO partners, U.S. Army Cpl. Raeann Lacombe, an MQ-1C Gray Eagle aircraft commander with Fox 1-1, spoke on her interactions with the different services she came in contact with during her stay at Twentynine Palms.
“It’s been eye-opening and it’s exciting getting to know the members of different services and how their organization works,” said Lacombe. “It was interesting showing the maintainers of the other services our aircraft and seeing their reactions to its capabilities.”
Lacombe, went on to speak about her role in the exercise and how she was able to support the Marines she was working with.
“For MWX, I’ve been tasked with performing reconnaissance and surveillance missions,” said Lacombe. “We had an opportunity to launch Hellfire missiles at enemy fighting positions that we found, but mostly, a lot of recon work in order to engage targets or send up a call-for-fires for other assets to engage.”
With the end of the Maneuver Warfare Exercise 22-1 rapidly approaching, Kubu spoke on his thoughts on the exercise thus far and moving forward.
“I think overall, this has been a great training event,” said Kubu. “More training events such as this are definitely necessary to expand our repertoire and exercise our ability to go out, deploy, and fight the enemy; no matter what the location and no matter what the environment is.”
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