Photo By Staff Sgt. Anthony Bryant | A Special Operations Forces Soldier with 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), mans a...... read more read more
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FORT IRWIN, Calif.—In the rugged expanse of the Mojave Desert, elite Special Forces units performed mission after mission in a high-stakes military exercise. Designed to simulate real-world combat scenarios, the drill tested their survival, navigation, and tactical skills under extreme conditions.
From Sept. 6-27, 2024, the National Training Center’s miles of hostile desert offered Green Berets assigned to 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), an opportunity to hone their capabilities and prepare for future missions.
“From an [Operational Detachment Alpha] level, we figure out how our Special Operations Forces skill set and talents nest within conventional forces’ methodology of fighting…where we can best support and enable their operations to set conditions for their success,” said a Special Forces team sergeant, the senior NCO on a Special Forces team. “Our skills and ability to survive and make good decisions independently facilitates big Army's actions.”
U.S. Special Forces core activities range from short-duration strikes and small-scale offensive actions to collecting and verifying information in sensitive environments to enabling a resistance movement to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a foreign government or occupying power.
“We've moved patrol bases six times; done three or four deliberate assaults; and five or six straight up reconnaissance missions where we find and fix the enemy and coordinate through the advanced operating base for fires,” he said. “Moving from operation to operation with limited concealment is extremely challenging; you must be deliberate when choosing to expose yourself to the enemy and weigh if the mission will have effects beyond killing one or two guys.”
The team sergeant said he refined his understanding of the capabilities his attached service members lend in the Box—the National Training Center’s vast desert training area whose isolated location ensures an uncluttered electromagnetic spectrum so troops can train freely in data collection and communications jamming.
“We have [a signals intelligence-electronic warfare analyst] and two Tactical Air Control Party Airmen from the U.S. Air Force attached to our team which we learned to employ,” he continued. “The [analyst] has been pretty critical in terms of force protection—he's able to pick out the signals around us, see if there are threats in the area we need to be aware of—and confirm or deny targets.”
Targets in the training area were sometimes beyond the range the Special Forces team could reliably observe.
“Using the [signals intelligence analyst], we're able to identify the signals coming off a target…and confirm that is indeed what we want to strike,” the team sergeant said.
In the Box, each Special Forces team has a dedicated duo of Observer Coach and Trainers (OC/T) who observe unit actions, control the opposing force and training unit, ensure exercise procedures are adhered to, and provide feedback.
“We observe all their maneuvers to help guide them on the right path to ensure their mission is successful,” said an OC/T augmentee and Special Forces Operator with 2nd Bn., 10th SFG (A). “Last night, there was a key enemy asset the team took out—which is great—but they didn't have [an exfiltration] plan in place as soon as they took it out, so you’re a sitting duck in the same area you just fired a (notional) missile from…We point out mistakes, so they don’t repeat themselves.”
The OC/T mentioned that in his role, he benefited by seeing how another team plans and conducts missions, enhancing his tactical knowledge.
“I coach and pull guys aside and tell them that, maybe, this is how to do things and then hear what they have to say to that,” he said. “[NTC] is where you figure it out; this is where teams can either make it or break it [without real-world outcomes].”
| Date Taken: | 09.27.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.22.2024 16:10 |
| Story ID: | 483397 |
| Location: | FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 713 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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