REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — 1st Space Brigade Soldiers joined cyber and special operations partners — known collectively as the triad — to demonstrate their unique interoperability, capabilities and Army requirements during the U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s Capabilities Exercise, April 23-27, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The brigade’s Soldiers integrated capabilities and space operations into the exercise to show how the triad supports multi-domain and full-spectrum operations and provides the joint force with an enhanced capability to see, sense, stimulate, strike and assess across the spectrum.
The five-Soldier crew was split into two teams. The primary crew operated the portable integrated ground suite on the space range providing live effects during the exercise. The secondary crew operated the monitoring and archiving system providing electronic surveillance capabilities.
“The monitoring and archiving system was livestreamed during the capabilities brief and live fire demonstrations, which allowed spectators to observe space effects in real time,” said Capt. Paulina Montgomery, crew officer in charge, 1st Space Brigade.
Space Soldiers are normally unable to observe the battlefield while providing space support, so the exercise provided a unique experience for them, Montgomery said.
“Soldiers provided real-time space effects in an immersive, multi-domain experience,” Montgomery said. “These operations enabled space Soldiers to observe all layers of the battle transpiring simultaneously, enhancing their knowledge of how space fits into the bigger picture of multi-domain operations.”
During the exercise live demonstration, special operations partners enabled space Soldiers to gain placement and access to operate tactical Army space control systems that supported operations in denied, degraded and disrupted austere operating environments.
The exercise offered guests a firsthand experience into how special operations forces leverage unique abilities and equipment to support the National Defense Strategy across the range of conflict, from competition to large-scale combat operations. Working alongside special operations forces Soldiers, guests performed missions such as operations in information assurance, tactical cyber, space, irregular warfare and direct action raids, and more.
“During execution, all partners gained greater planning expertise on mutually supporting capabilities in direct support of operations utilizing multi-domain formations and platforms,” said Capt. Andrew Weliver, deputy, 1st Space Brigade Space Control Branch.
The participation of triad partners in these types of exercises was an opportunity to demonstrate how when their capabilities are integrated, they enable effects no single component can deliver by itself.
“The convergence of all three components will provide scalable, cost-effective and executable options for our policy makers,” Lt. Gen. Jon Braga, USASOC command general, said during the 25th Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville in August 2022. “After 20 years of sustained combat, one of the greatest lessons learned is the need to synchronize lethal and non-lethal effects through multi-domain operations.”
Through this robust non-combatant evacuation operation scenario, the 1st Space Brigade demonstrated to senior leaders how triad equities work simultaneously, and in harmony, to enable the successful execution of the operation, Weliver said.
“Exercises like CAPEX gives us unequivocal experience to refine and showcase this effort as we continue to evolve these concepts,” Weliver said. “We look forward to additional opportunities to continue to train, integrate and perfect the triad concepts to tangible effects across complex battlefield geometry.”
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