FORT IRWIN/NELLIS AFB, CA -
The National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, Ca and the 57th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, NV seized a rare opportunity to conduct true joint combined arms training during a recent NTC rotation that coincided with a Red Flag exercise.
The mission of the NTC is to train Brigade Combat Teams to win the first fight of the next war. At 1200 square miles, the sheer size of the NTC allows training for large scale combat operations that are unavailable at home station or at any other post, camp or station in the world.
Our nation recognizes ongoing global destabilization and uncertainties; in efforts to better understand and contend with future conflicts, the Army began sending Division Headquarters, a BCT’s higher command, to train at NTC.
FM 3.0 (Oct 2022) Identifies the Division as the Army’s principal tactical warfighting formation which lead to the inevitable division level rotation at the NTC.
“Our bosses in The Pentagon pay close attention to what’s going on in the world; this is the third Division that NTC has hosted in recent history,” said Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commander of the National Training Center. “Coincidentally, our neighbors at Nellis Air Force Base were planning a Red Flag Exercise that overlapped with 1st Armor Division’s (1st AD) time here; we had additional rotary wing aviation, so it only made sense to plan a joint operation.”
Red Flag Exercises, hosted by the 414th Combat Training Squadron (414 CTS), subordinate to the 57th Wing, challenges hundreds of new pilots of numerous airframes, to accomplish their first 10 combat training missions each year. With more than 1,700 aircraft lost in Vietnam, the Air Force learned that the first 10 missions for new pilots were the most dangerous.
“Red Flag exercises are an investment in readiness and significantly improve warfighter combat effectiveness,” said Brig. Gen. Richard A. Goodman, Commander of the 57th Wing. “Red Flag also creates the environment to maximize joint interoperability, resulting in U.S. forces gaining a higher level of lethality.”
The Marine Corps Base at 29 Palms, Naval Air Station at China Lake, and NASA are the sister services resident to the Mojave Desert that Goodman references. Space Force and several military installations along the pacific coast, routinely seize opportunities to piggyback with the training held in the High Desert.
The crucible of this training was 1st AD’s mission to establish a forward armament and refuel point (FARP) in the enemy’s battle space, so that 15 or so Apache AH-64s had the means to reach the ‘deep fight’ scenario under Red Flag. Once Air Force aircraft were on station, the Army helicopters accomplished its deep fight mission by destroying enemy armor and antiaircraft systems.
The FARP consisted of fuel tankers flown in by CH-47 Chinook Helicopters and a convoy of tankers trucked into a neat line on a hasty airfield. The broad strokes of the mission are as follows:
1. A hostile nation attacks an ally that hosts several U.S. military bases.
2. Allied and Joint forces are alerted, defensive battle stations are established.
3. Artillery and counter fire fight ensue, aviation scramble to counter enemy penetration.
4. Air Force establishes Air Superiority; Air Force pararescue on standby to recover downed pilots.
5. Division identifies suitable FARP locations; Special Forces are dispatched to raid and secure a small airfield within enemy territory.
6. Chinooks hauling fuel, referred to as “fat cows,” are the first to arrive and begin FARP operations. A convoy of refuelers and ammo trucks arrive; Apache arrive to refuel and rearm for the recon and deep strike mission.
7. Apache unit conducts surveillance, stand-off and hunter operations in coordination with Air Force command and control to destroy some of 2200 targets.
8. Apache return, refuel, and rearm to support the ground led counterattack being handed off to 1st AD’s 1st Brigade Combat Team.
The division’s training objectives were met once the AH-64s returned to the FARP and the Division handed the battle off to 1st Brigade’s training rotation for the ground led counterattack. The Air Force also got to benefit from the unique training with Army aviation.
“Today we introduced an Army Rotary Wing Attack Aviation Brigade into a RED FLAG Scenario, in the process allowing Army and Air Force Aviators to better understand each other’s capabilities and our unique service processes for solving tactical problems,” said Lt Col. Tyler Harman Commander of the 12 Combat Training Squadron: permanent resident of Fort Irwin, however subordinate to the 57th Wing. “Now, we can continue towards our ultimate goal of fully integrating TC and RED FLAG, to execute joint fires, synchronized in time and space, to overcome complex tactical problems.”
Taylor and his team wasted no time crunching data so that the entirety of the Army may benefit from the lessons learned here.
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