Page 1 - Fort Irwin High Desert Warrior, September 2021

Volume 17, Number 9 Published in the interest of the National Training Center and Fort Irwin community • home.army.mil/Irwin September 2021
General Robert W. Cone Heritage

Center opens at Fort Irwin

By Sgt. Bradley Parrish
11th ACR Public A airs
FORT IRWIN, CALIF — In the quaint little town of Wescott, Wisconsin, sits the home
of late Army General Robert W. Cone and his widow, Mrs. Jill Cone. General Cone assumed
command of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) in April of
2011 after he was promoted to the rank of four-star general. General Cone was diagnosed with
cancer four months after his promotion to four-star general. He retired in 2014, passed away
on Sept. 19, 2016, and laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, on Dec. 9, 2016.
Before becoming a general o cer, Cone had a notable history with the 11th Armored Cavalry
Regiment. While the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment was in Fulda, Germany, Cone served as
the 2nd Squadron Operations O cer during Operation Desert Storm, the Regimental Opera-
tions O cer in 1991, and the Regimental Executive O cer in 1993.
At Fulda, Germany, the role of the 11th Armored Cavalry was changing. eir mission in
Germany had ended, and they were deactivated in October 1993. As the Executive O cer, Cone
oversaw the closing of the 11th ACR’s military o ces, housing areas, and bases.
On March 15, 1994, at 5 p.m. hours, the color guard for the 11th Armored Cavalry Regi-

See HERITAGE, Page 4
Fort Irwin “Box Tour” resumes Operations Group re ects Prehistoric Times on the

after 18 months on its past and future National Training Center

Story by Brenda Reed
By Jason Miller Fort Irwin Archeologist
Fort Irwin Public A airs Prehistory (the time before written re-
Reinvigorated after a pause due to force cords) is represented by a range of archaeo-
health protection measures from the CO- logical sites (in terms of both the type of
VID-19 pandemic, the National Training site and the timing of the human activities
Center conducted its rst internal “Box Tour” Busch said the tour enlightened her on the that created it) on Fort Irwin. e times of
after 18 months on Aug. 13. challenges U.S. Army Soldiers face in the use represent one of the challenges for local
e Box Tour gave Fort Irwin Spouses a By Annette Pritt archaeology—can we identify when speci c
rst-hand experience on the challenges service “Box”. cultural changes happened on Fort Irwin?
members face while training to win the rst “I’m so grateful for the experience, I abso- Operations Group Public A airs In identifying general patterns, all but
ght in combat. e tour began at the iconic lutely enjoyed every moment of the box tour,” Operations Group was o cially activated on the last of the periods or complexes listed
painted rocks with a brief history of the Na- said Busch. “It really opens one’s eyes to the Oct. 3, 1982 at the National Training Center below share the names of stone point forms
tional Training Center, which led to a NTC importance of what our Soldiers are accom- and Fort Irwin. used to tip hand-held spears or other hunt-
mission brief. plishing by training the rotational units.” “...And the Training Begins” was the headline ing weapons. In addition to hand-held
Attendee and Fort Irwin Spouse, Heather After the brie ngs, spouses made their way in the post paper, e Combined Arms Moni- spears, some of the older point forms most

See BOX TOUR, Page 9 See OPERATIONS, Page 6 See PREHISTORIC, Page 8

Artwork by Beini Bao