Page 1 - Fort Irwin High Desert Warrior, June 2022

Volume 18, Number 6 Published in the interest of the National Training Center and Fort Irwin community • home.army.mil/Irwin June 2022
11th ACr places third in U.S. Army tank competition
Story by Cpt. Evan Cain
Troopers assigned to Hawg Company, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) placed third in the 2022 Sullivan Cup competition at Fort Benning, Georgia, held April 24 to May 6. The Sullivan Cup, named in honor of General (Ret.) Gordon R. Sullivan, is a biennial competition hosted by the Commandant of the United States Army Armor School.
The competition consists of physically and mentally chal- lenging events while evaluating the platform operation, sus- tainment, and lethality of competing crews. This year’s event featured participants utilizing the M2A3 Bradley Fighting Ve- hicle for the first time in competition history, along with M1A2 Abrams main battle tank crews from across the U.S. Army.
The 2022 Sullivan Cup commenced on April 24 with pre- liminary tasks such as vehicle issue, proficiency skills tests, and gunnery tables, to set conditions for the primary competition events from May 2 to May 6. The official opening ceremony began on May 2, preluding the Bradley and Abrams crew gun- nery, a stress shoot, a physical proficiency test, and culminating with the ‘Thunder Run’ later in the week.
To be able to compete in the Sullivan Cup, crews assigned to 11th ACR in Fort Irwin were assessed through a rigorous four months of physical training, basic Soldier tasks, tank mainte- nance, weapon systems included in tank gunnery, small arms weapons qualification, stress shoots and tank gunnery tables.
Competing this year as the 11th ACR tank crew was Staff
Autonomous vehicles make debut at the national Training Center
Staff Sgt. Alex Jobe, Sgt. Fernando Medina, Spc. Arath Flores, and Spc. Joshua Kramer, pose for photos with Brig. General Thomas M. Feltey, U.S. Army Armor School Commandant, and Command Sgt. Maj. LeVares J. Jackson, Senior Enlisted Advisor to Brig. Gen. Feltey of the U.S. Army Armor School, during the Sullivan Cup 2022 awards ceremony at Fort Benning, Georgia.
See COmpETITIOn, Page 5 Fort Irwin-based Explosive Ordnance
Disposal team wins all-Army EOD competition
Story By: Abe Dawoud
In an effort to showcase the U.S. Army’s moderniza- tion efforts, Soldiers with 41st Transportation Company from Fort Polk, Louisiana, ar- rived for their April rotation at the National Training Center with a fleet of modified Pal- letized Load System vehicles.
The modification? The transport vehicles included kits which allow the vehicles to operate both autonomously or semi-autonomously.
The Ground Vehicles Sys- tems Center, part of U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, showcased the Autonomous Transport Vehicles (ATVs) during Project Convergence 21 in fall of 2021.
There, select Soldiers with the 41st Trans. Co., including Sgt. Brian Killebrew, received firsthand training on the ATVs, which enable existing
By Walter T. Ham IV
FORT CARSON, Colo. – Army Explo- sive Ordnance Disposal technicians from the Fort Irwin, California-based 759th Ordnance Company (EOD) “Detonators” earned first place in the all-Army EOD Team of the Year competition on Fort Carson, Colorado, May 15 – 19.
The winning team, Staff Sgt. Mark S. Owens and Spc. Brady L. Dunn, represented the 759th EOD Company, 3rd EOD Bat- talion, 71st EOD Group and 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Apolonia Gaspar
Spc. Brady L. Dunn, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician with 759th Ordnance Company (EOD), provides security during the all-Army Team of the Year competition at Fort Carson, Colorado, May 16, 2022.
manned vehicles to be con- verted into semiautonomous robots.
“Throughout the month of October of PC21, we were in constant robotics training,” said Killebrew, “It took about two weeks to understand the basics of the vehicle and how to operate it.”
According to the Ground Vehicles Systems Center by leveraging the autonomous capability, ground command- ers will have the ability to run 24/7 logistical support while mitigating the risk of Soldiers
being exposed to attacks by the enemy.
The ATVs featured a By- Wire Active Safety Kit that includes mitigation collision, 360-degree view, and accident avoidance through warning systems.
There are currently three main ways of operating these ATVs, according to Killebrew.
The first mode, teleopera- tion, allows users to control the ATV via a controller, similar to that of a video game console, Killebrew said.
See VEHIClES, Page 3
See EOD, Page 7
Fort Irwin, Barstow partner to provide services, build community ties
Story by Kimberly Hackbarth
FORT IRWIN, Calif. —
Leaders from Fort Irwin and the city of Barstow signed an intergovernmental support agreement (IGSA) May 25, at Fort Irwin Garrison Head- quarters, here.
Under IGSAs, installa- tions can partner with state or local governments, including cities, counties, school dis-
tricts and public universities, to receive or share installation support services.
The $255 million, 10- year contractual agreement is slated to start Aug. 1, 2022 and will allow the city of Bar- stow to provide base operation support services including grounds maintenance, pest management, wastewater ser- vices, and heating and cooling
Col. Jason Clarke (left),
the Fort Irwin garrison commander, signs an intergovernmental support agreement (IGSA) May 25, with Barstow Mayor Pro Tem James Noble (right) at Garrison Headquarters, Fort Irwin, Calif.
See BArSTOW, Page 10