Middle: Medics from C/704BSB evacuate casualties from H FSC during the day iteration of Platoon STX at Rodriguez Life Fire Complex, Pocheon, South Korea in October 2023.
Right: Certified Wheeled Recovery Specialists (H8) from B/704BSB train in inter-partner recovery operations with 16th Logistics Support Battalion at Rodriguez Life Fire Complex, Pocheon, South Korea in October 2023. VIEW ORIGINAL
VIEW ORIGINAL
The prospect of American forces operating in large-scale combat operations (LSCO) is becoming increasingly probable with the current global political climate. While deployed with the Korea Rotational Force (KRF), sustainers from a Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT) can build the readiness required to win in LSCO and the Indo-Pacific region by taking advantage of unique training opportunities on the Korean Peninsula. Sustainers across 2nd SBCT, 4th Infantry Division (2SBCT, 4ID), capitalized on these opportunities while serving with KRF-13 by maximizing a complex training environment, conducting sustainment operations across extended distances, and building lasting partnerships with the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) forces.
Training Overview – Collective Sustainment Training for KRF-13
Prior to deployment, 2SBCT, 4ID, executed rotation 23-03 at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) to certify unit readiness for the KRF-13 rotation. Rotation 23-03 highlighted the need to further train the dispersion of sustainment assets and the decentralization of command-and-control elements to allow the brigade support battalion (BSB) to operate successfully in base clusters. The survivability and redundancy of sustainment assets are critical in prolonging endurance during LSCO. While deployed on KRF-13, 704th BSB’s staff and command team designed a training event tailored to the unique variables experienced in the Indo-Pacific region while incorporating lessons learned during JRTC.
704th BSB executed a two-week training exercise at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex (RLFC) to certify platoon leadership and train company mission essential tasks (METs). The exercise was nested within 2nd Infantry Division’s (2ID’s) command post exercise (CPX) III. Operations included a brigade support area (BSA) validation with base defense operations, platoon situational training exercises (STXs), sustainment gunnery, and combined training with ROKA partners while facing a live opposing force. External evaluators from the 2ID Sustainment Brigade observed staff processes and BSA base defense operations. Following the training event, 704th BSB met the criteria to be assessed as trained in all five METs. This training provided tactical stimulus similar to a combat training center to increase readiness while maximizing the opportunities unique to the Korean Peninsula.
Building Realism into the Training Environment
Training within the mountainous landscape of Korea provided realism to collective sustainment training. 70% of the Korean Peninsula is mountainous and densely vegetated. Off-road mobility corridors are extremely limited, forcing mounted elements to use canalizing routes to bypass impassible terrain. Training areas come at a premium on the Korean Peninsula for both U.S. and ROKA forces. 2ID worked tirelessly with 704th BSB staff to provide a majority of the training areas at RLFC for the exercise. The terrain at RLFC forced 704th BSB to establish two BSA base clusters from the onset of the field exercise. One cluster focused on distribution and supply assets, while the other held service and support assets. Executing a base cluster concept within complex terrain strained internal capabilities to organically defend multiple locations while providing support to 2/4 SBCT.
704th BSB’s requirement to sustain a static base defense for two base clusters included 10 stationary crew-served fighting positions and one dismounted quick reaction force per site (one team-size element). In addition to ground-mounted systems, a Stryker BSB organically has four mounted protection platforms within the base companies to provide flexible security to the BSA and to sustainment convoys. To augment the security posture, 704th BSB also flew a small unmanned aerial vehicle twice daily as part of the information collection plan and to provide early warning. Field trains command posts were also integrated into the base defense for base clusters to improve the defensive posture.
The mountainous and canalized terrain also highlighted the limitations of organizational equipment, specifically communications equipment and distribution assets. The load-handling systems configured to maximum carrying capacity must be taken into account, forcing units to consider finding alternate routes with reduced grade in theater. Communication for meetings and operation order publication was limited to Joint Battle Command-Platforms because the mountainous terrain inhibited line-of-sight radio systems. Elements of the battalion staff and communications equipment were dispersed between base clusters to build communications redundancy and improve the interoperability of decentralized command elements.
Nesting 704th BSB’s training during the 2ID’s CPX-III provided theater-specific opportunities to exercise full communications capability from frequency modulation, upper tactical internet, and the Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System (CENTRIXS)-K (K being the designation for South Korea). 704th BSB’s S-6 created redundant communications with 2ID throughout the exercise by establishing tactical satellite and high-frequency communications equipment. Moreover, a logistics synchronization held between the 194th Division Sustainment Support Battalion (DSSB) and 704th BSB support operations synchronized all sustainment forecasting requirements fulfilled by 194th DSSB to build a realistic, multi-echelon sustainment architecture. CPX-III provided 704th BSB staff with a relevant scenario to train the military decision-making process with realistic tactical friction and operational tempo.
Tyranny of Distance: Preparing for Extended Ground Lines of Communications
Executing realistic training across the Korean Peninsula requires operating over extended ground and air lines of communication. Extended ground lines of communication (GLOCs) are an inevitable variable for the LSCO environment. 194th DSSB provided Class I support from Camp Humphreys during collective training, 95 miles from RLFC by ground convoy. Inter-peninsula ground convoys navigate the civilian infrastructure through multiple city centers when traveling from south to north, including Seoul. This variable restricts GLOC mobility in a contested environment within the Indo-Pacific region.
The 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade executed aerial delivery resupply, flying Class IX repair parts 73 miles. Pilots transported repair parts over densely populated terrain to deliver them at 704th BSB’s BSA. Operating with an extended GLOC highlighted gaps in 704th BSB’s stateside training, such as the requirement for building the principle of anticipation into logistical forecasting and maximizing the economy of routine distribution operations to reduce sustainment traffic for both ground and air lines of communication.
Working with Allied Partners: Win as a Total Force
704th BSB conducted combined training with the 16th Logistics Support Battalion (LSB) of the ROKA to exercise combined communication capabilities, distribution operations, and recovery operations with each organization’s fleet. Signal assets from both organizations conducted a cross-force communications exercise using ROKA and U.S. radios to allow ROKA communication with U.S. elements. Class III bulk distribution assets conducted bulk-to-bulk transfer training between U.S. and ROKA equipment. Maintainers from both organizations cross-trained on heavy recovery assets such as the U.S. Modular Catastrophic Recovery System and the Korean K1 Armored Recovery Vehicle. Company C, 704th BSB, executed a combined Role II exercise with the 16th Mechanized Infantry’s medical company. 704th BSB and 16th LSB overcame the friction created by a lack of redundant radio communication systems by placing a liaison officer within each unit’s tactical operations center. The adjacent headquarters provided dual capability with CENTRIXS-K systems using equipment issued to the rotational force from Korean equipment sets to create a shared common operating picture.
Future Sustainment Training on the Peninsula
Nesting battalion training within a division CPX provided context and theater focus. Further realism and interoperability are achieved by nesting ROKA collective training events with the KRF to simulate a truly combined battle space. Incorporating both ROKA and U.S. training areas encourages further coordination between partners to synchronize efforts within a shared operational environment. Requesting access to ROKA training areas also provides greater flexibility when planning a dynamic base defense with alternate base cluster locations and nesting defensive graphic control measures with adjacent units.
U.S. forces at the tactical echelon must continue to integrate with our ROKA partners through shared training exercises and security cooperation activities. Creating routine opportunities to conduct combined training events will reduce the friction experienced at the battalion level to integrate staff functions and planning. Sustainers with the KRF can build proficiencies across all assigned METs with creative solutions to collective training and allied partnership collaboration. By taking advantage of the unique opportunities afforded on the Korean Peninsula, the KRF can build the readiness required to fight and win in an LSCO environment.
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MAJ Theresa Penrod currently serves as the battalion operations officer for 704th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) and currently attends U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. She is a graduate of the Field Artillery Basic Officer Leadership Course and the Maneuver Captains Career Course. She has served as a fire direction officer, platoon leader, aide-de-camp, company commander, executive officer, and battalion operations officer. Her assignments have included the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division (ID); the 4th Division Sustainment Brigade; the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 4ID; and 704th BSB, 2SBCT. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese-Mandarin language and literature from the University of North Georgia.
CPT Bradley Miller currently commands Alpha Company “Wolfpack,” 704th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. He previously served in distribution and maintenance leadership roles within the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He is a graduate of the Ordnance Basic Officer Leader Course and the Combined Logistics Captains Career Course at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia, and Air Assault School and Pathfinder School at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
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This article was published in the winter 2025 issue of Army Sustainment.
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