FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — About 50 Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, visited Fort Leonard Wood this week to conduct a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear training event called Operation Steel Box, and speak with Soldiers here about opportunities in the Army Airborne community.
According to Sgt. Maj. JD Howard, the division’s CBRNE sergeant major — responsible for the training, planning and resourcing of all CBRN, plus Explosives Ordnance Disposal operations in the unit — exercises like this afford the division a chance to “validate that our Soldiers are prepared to fight at a moment’s notice with agility and proficiency.”
“The goal here is to conduct the Airborne operation, clear the airfield and then continue to get after their mission-essential task,” Howard said.
With the task during this exercise being CBRN detection and identification, Howard said the division’s Chemical Reconnaissance Platoon was central to the operation. And supporting the platoon’s efforts here were Soldiers with the 192nd EOD, which is one of the EOD units that can deploy with the 82nd if needed. EOD Specialist Sgt. 1st Class Jayson Trawick said integrating explosives experts into the CBRN platoon here helps to build foundational cohesion in future missions.
“It’s always nice to know people,” Trawick said. “EOD is non-organic to the 82nd — they’re attached through orders — so, if the 82nd deploys, they have EOD companies that will be attached to them from the home station at Fort Bragg. What we’re trying to do here is take the EOD company that is associated with the brigade that they support and then integrate them with the Chem Reconnaissance Platoon they will be supporting.”
A critical piece to this exercise, and the reason it’s located here, Howard said, is Fort Leonard Wood’s Chemical Defense Training Facility, or CDTF, the only Department of Defense facility that conducts live chemical warfare agent training. The opportunity to utilize a live chemical agent puts the Soldiers in a real-world environment that “replicates battlefield conditions.”
“That’s exactly what we want to get after as far as training — we want to make it as real as possible,” Howard said. “Fort Leonard Wood is the only place we have for that. It’s a great location. We’re able to build esprit de corps and close the gap for training. With a (U.S. Army Forces Command) unit, to come back to (U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command) and be able to showcase and display our capabilities and integrate into the schoolhouse — it’s definitely a win for everybody.”
With the unit being Airborne — Army Airborne units are made up of ground combat Soldiers, who are carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault — aircraft support was vital to the operation. The CH-47 Chinook helicopter utilized was flown here from New Century, Kansas — a suburb of Kansas City — where it’s assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, an Army Reserve unit.
While the Soldiers were unable to parachute from the Chinook during this exercise due to weather issues, they were still able to perform an air assault — a type of combat insertion — on exercise targets in and around Forney Airfield.
As Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, the majority of CBRN training is performed here. One of the division’s junior enlisted CBRN Specialists, Pfc. David Lopez, had what he called an interesting surprise when he arrived for the exercise and found out where he would be lodged.
“I’m staying in the same barracks room, where I first started in the Army,” he said with a laugh.
The San Antonio, Texas, native said the Army — and deciding to choose Airborne — has definitely helped him develop as a person.
“They really push you to your limits — they really test what you’ve got,” he said. “It’s a fight every day. I enjoy it.”
Unrelated to the exercise, the Chinook’s presence here on Tuesday provided a more unique reenlistment opportunity for Staff Sgt. Chase Stevens, a drill sergeant with Company D, 795th Military Police Battalion. Stevens was on hand, along with Capt. Jonathan Morton, his company commander, and members of the MSCoE Retention team, as the sun rose over Forney Airfield and the Fort Bragg Soldiers were preparing their gear for the day’s events.
A native of Caroll County, Virginia, Stevens has served in the Army for nearly 10 years. He said he wanted to be a police officer and initially joined the Army to get some experience. A decade later, he has a lot of nice things to say about his career.
“It’s really rewarding,” he said. “There are great benefits; you get to travel; the kids are taken care of — it’s just a good gig to stick with.”
Stevens said he appreciates the efforts of Fort Leonard Wood’s senior leaders, who work to make reenlistments a little more memorable when possible.
“I think it’s good,” he said. “It’s something different than just doing it on the ground. With us not having local air assets, it’s not something we get to do very often here.”
Another opportunity the visit afforded this week, Howard said, was the chance for Airborne Soldiers to speak with trainees and professional military education students here about opportunities in the Army Airborne community.
A group of seven recent graduates of CBRN Advanced Individual Training here visited with the 82nd Soldiers on Tuesday. Pfc. Rylee Boswell seemed impressed by the Airborne Soldiers.
“What they do is so amazing,” she said. “Not everyone has the mentality to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to jump out of this aircraft.’”
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