FORT CARSON, Colo. — A Soldier with 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, fires an M-4 rifle during a zero range Aug. 20, 2021, at Fort Carson. (Photo by Spc. Scyrrus Corregidor)
By Sgt. Gabrielle Pena
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office, 4th Infantry Division
FORT CARSON, Colo. — A Soldier with 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, zeroes an M-4 rifle Aug. 20, 2021, at Fort Carson. (Photo by Spc. Scyrrus Corregidor)
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Soldiers with 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, completed their final command post exercise, Warhorse Strike, Aug. 27, 2021, at Fort Carson prior to their upcoming deployment to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.
The two-week training event validated the brigade’s ability to engage in large-scale combat operations. Many of the critical components that make a brigade lethal, had the opportunity to demonstrate their combat effectiveness. Critical to the event was the integration of current operations training, planning, artillery and aviation fires and intelligence collection.
“One of the most important things we get out of these training events is increasing our synchronization,” said Capt. James McAuliffe, commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd SBCT. “Working together as a team to creates shared understanding, so we are more effective when the nation calls on us.”
Leaders worked around the clock to maneuver their elements within a simulation that allowed the brigade to test its plan and synchronization capabilities against a near-peer threat. The most critical element that led to the brigade’s success was ensuring synchronization across various functions and command posts up and down the chain of command.
“Integration and cross coordination are vital to success when we execute these types of training events. If we aren’t talking and syncing across the board we will ultimately fail,” said Maj. Jason Elmore, officer in charge of synchronization of nonlethal assets across the brigade, which include civil affairs, public affairs and psychological operations.
While brigade and battalion commanders and staff fought the simulation, several battalions conducted training that coincided with Warhorse Strike that prepared formations for the upcoming NTC rotation.
Training included demolition training by combat engineers with 52nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd SBCT, and gunnery tables by troopers with 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd SBCT.
FORT CARSON, Colo. — A Soldier with 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, fires an AT-4 antitank weapon during a range Aug. 27, 2021, at Fort Carson. Battalions throughout the brigade conducted training that coincided with Warhorse Strike that prepared formations for the upcoming rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas Paugam)
“I am very proud of the work we did out here this week. All of the units trained hard. Their staffs and commanders got the chance to practice their skills and build cohesive teams, and I know we all came out of this better than we were before,” McAuliffe said.
Training events like these identify a unit’s strengths and weaknesses. These valuable lessons learned will ensure the brigade is successful at NTC.
“These things are all about readiness,” Elmore said. “We build our systems, practice our crafts and have the opportunity to hone our lethality prior to NTC, where we will demonstrate our effectiveness against a near-peer threat as one of the newest Stryker organizations in the Army.”