Photo By Joseph Siemandel | 1st Sgt. Jason Porteous, 898th Brigade Engineer Battalion, talks with a member of the...... read more read more
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In preparation for next summer’s Exportable Combat Training Capabilities (XCTC) rotation, more than 100 members of the 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), along with leadership from the 1st Battalion, 168th General Support Aviation, contractors, and partners from the Canadian and Royal Thai Army, gathered at the Yakima Training Center from December 3-5, 2024. The purpose of this main planning conference was to establish a comprehensive plan for the upcoming rotation.
“Raven Focus,” the designated name for this XCTC rotation, will bring the units of the 81st SBCT together for a three-week training exercise in July 2025. This exercise aims to test their capabilities and prepare them for a future rotation at the National Training Center (NTC). According to Col. Craig Broyles, commander of the 81st SBCT, this type of training fosters competition, which strengthens individual members and enhances team cohesion.
“Raven Focus is our scrimmage for the big game, our National Training Center rotation in 2026. This is our opportunity to practice how we work together as a brigade and fight together to win,” said Broyles. “Exercises like these are critical because, in the National Guard, geographic dispersion and limited time often prevent us from training together. Think of it like a football team where players practice separately and come together only for the game. This is our chance to come together and practice how we fight as a team.”
Broyles expressed hope that the two-day planning conference would foster a shared understanding of the exercise and the expectations for success among participants.
“You achieve this through the five principles of training: learning by doing, competition driving excellence, the teacher learning the most, training to the threshold of failure, and incorporating free play and scenario-based exercises. This isn’t scripted lane training,” he emphasized.
The XCTC program is designed to help Army National Guard brigade combat teams achieve trained platoon readiness, enabling them to deploy, fight, and win battles worldwide. The 81st SBCT will not undertake the XCTC rotation alone. Broyles has extended invitations to other Washington National Guard units and international partner nations to participate.
“Another great aspect of Raven Focus is that we’re training as we fight, and we never fight alone. Our State Partnership Program partners from Thailand and Canadian allies, with whom I’ve worked in Poland, will be part of this exercise,” said Broyles. “That’s realistic because we never fight alone.”
The 81st SBCT, headquartered at Camp Murray, represents nearly half of the Washington Army National Guard, with 2,900 citizen-soldiers from communities across the state.
“We always say we want to be an agent of change, meaning we want to approach this rotation differently,” said Broyles. “If we train and fight like everyone else, we’ll be just like everyone else. We want to be better.”
| Date Taken: | 12.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.05.2024 10:25 |
| Story ID: | 486700 |
| Location: | YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 131 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Raven Focus: 81st SBCT conducts Planning Conference in preparation for XCTC rotation, by Joseph Siemandel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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