LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Army National Guard leaders from all 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia joined Army and mobilization enterprise partners Sept. 15-17 at the National Guard Professional Education Center at Camp Robinson for the Director of the Army National Guard Large-Scale Mobilization Operations Tabletop Exercise.
The three-day DARNG LSMO TTX examined whether current mobilization processes, policies, authorities and force-generation models can deliver multiple combat-ready formations at the scale, speed and simultaneity required during large-scale combat operations.
Ten states provided detailed state-level inputs during the exercise, helping leaders stress-test the Army National Guard’s three-phase LSMO construct and examine challenges identified by states and the Army National Guard staff. The findings are intended to inform mobilization readiness across the entire force.
“The strategic environment demands that the Army National Guard be prepared to generate and project combat power at a scale and speed we have not experienced in decades,” said Lt. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs, director of the Army National Guard. “We have to identify the friction, assess the risk, assign ownership and drive solutions. That is how we ensure we can generate, mobilize and project combat-ready forces at the speed and scale required for large-scale combat operations.”
The exercise deliberately challenged assumptions developed during more than two decades of rotational deployments. Large-scale conflict could require the Army National Guard to mobilize multiple formations simultaneously while preserving unit cohesion, sustaining follow-on forces and maintaining capabilities required for homeland defense and other domestic missions.
Participants examined the mobilization enterprise from alert through force movement, focusing on authorities and policies, personnel systems, logistics, maintenance, transportation, force aggregation and coordination across the Army and the Joint Force.
“This exercise gives us the opportunity to take a hard look at how states mobilize units under the demands of large-scale operations,” said Brig. Gen. Bradley Martsching, Army National Guard G-3/5/7. “We are bringing states, the Army National Guard staff and our enterprise partners together to challenge assumptions, identify friction and turn those findings into decisions that strengthen readiness across the force.”
A central focus was simultaneity. During large-scale operations, the Army National Guard may be required to prepare multiple formations for federal missions overseas and in support of homeland defense while maintaining capabilities needed to support governors across the states and territories.
For the Army National Guard’s force-generation team, the TTX provided an opportunity to examine how those systems and processes perform when demand increases across multiple formations at once.
“Large-scale mobilization requires us to see the entire force-generation process as one connected system,” said Col. Chin U. Kim, chief of the Force Generation Division, Mobilizations. “The momentum gained through this exercise gives the Army National Guard a shared understanding of enterprise-level issues and a foundation to work through them together. The next step is to bring these outcomes into senior leader forums, build concurrence and support, and continue advancing our LSMO objectives and priorities.”
Generating combat power at scale also depends on the readiness of both personnel and equipment. The TTX gave planners an opportunity to examine how those readiness requirements align with mobilization timelines and force-generation demands across multiple formations.
“From a strategic sustainment perspective, the LSMO TTX gave us a holistic view of personnel readiness, equipment posture, maintenance capacity and medical support across the mobilization enterprise,” said Lt. Col. Hollis C. Gaynor, Army National Guard G-4 Strategic Plans and Readiness Branch chief. “By bringing together Headquarters, Department of the Army, the Army Reserve, First Army and all 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia, we were able to identify key challenges, refine mitigation strategies and improve how we prepare the force for large-scale mobilization.”
State participation added the perspective of those responsible for translating enterprise guidance into executable mobilization plans at the formation level. The TTX also examined the distinction between responsibilities and authorities at the national level and those retained at the state level, including the roles of governors and adjutants general, to better understand how those authorities must align during a large-scale mobilization.
“From the state perspective, this exercise gives us the opportunity to work through the decisions and coordination required when multiple formations are moving at the same time,” said Col. Rene Mendoza, G-4, Washington National Guard. “It allows states to bring operational experience into the enterprise discussion, identify constraints early and help develop solutions that work from home station through mobilization and into the Joint Force.”
The challenge of simultaneity extends beyond force generation. The TTX also examined how the Army National Guard balances concurrent federal and state requirements, including overseas operations, homeland defense, Defense Support of Civil Authorities and other domestic missions.
That makes synchronization across the Total Army critical.
“LSMO cannot be treated as an expanded version of rotational deployments,” Stubbs said. “Success in large-scale combat operations will depend on simultaneity, readiness, speed and our ability to rapidly generate combat power while preserving unit cohesion.”
The exercise is designed to produce tangible outcomes, including a prioritized assessment of mobilization challenges, assigned ownership, mitigation measures, refined planning assumptions and recommendations requiring action at the Army National Guard or broader Army level. Those outcomes will also help the 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia plan and execute Deployment Readiness Exercises and refine local plans and procedures for responding to simultaneous mobilization requirements.
It also focuses on decision advantage by identifying trigger points and actions leaders can take before those challenges become a crisis.
“If a process will fail under LSMO conditions, we need to know it now. If a policy creates risk, we need to identify it,” Stubbs said. “We are not here simply to identify problems. We are here to develop solutions, assign ownership and drive action.”
The DARNG LSMO TTX is part of a broader Army and Joint Force effort to ensure the nation can rapidly generate and project combat power in a contested environment.
By challenging assumptions and addressing mobilization obstacles before they become operational risk, the Army National Guard is refining the framework, relationships and decision tools needed to move combat-ready formations at scale, on time and when the nation needs them most.
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