Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review 8-21-15
P. 6
Conventional,
special forces
team up during
‘Joint Forcible
Entry’ exercise
CZ$5PEE-PQF[ We don’t do anything by ourselves.
Fort Irwin, Calif.
We are completely enabled by them.
Rounds from an M1A1 main battle
tank followed by rockets from a High So this interoperability, this integra-
Mobility Artillery Rocket System il-
luminated the desert here, kicking tion, this interdependence ... is re-
off a “Joint Forcible Entry,” or JFE,
exercise. ally demonstrative of how we want to
The JFE was designed to test the work together in the future. It really
ability of both special and conven-
tional forces to work together to seize provides our nation a much greater
an objective in a location that is con-
trolled entirely by an enemy. capability.”
As part of the JFE exercise at the At dusk, in the middle of nearly
National Training Center, Fort Irwin,
Calif., Aug. 5 and 6, about 1,500 1,200 square miles of training space Army photograph by C. Todd Lopez
service members provided a demon- inside the Mojave Desert, tanker sol-
stration of American military power. diers with the 11th Armored Calvary An M1A1 tank, with Soldiers from the 11th Armored Calvary Regiment, was part of the Joint Forcible Entry exercise,
Senior military leaders and journal- Regiment — a unit stationed at Fort $XJDWWKH1DWLRQDO7UDLQLQJ&HQWHURQ)RUW,UZLQ&DOLI
ists were invited to the training area
in the dark of night to watch portions Irwin that usually serves as the oppos-
RIWKHH[HUFLVH²WKH¿UVWRILWVNLQG
in years. ing forces for units who rotate in to some resolutions against the Denovian instructed to wear ear and eye protec- that HIMARS to move in and destroy
the National Training Center to train cross-border aggression,” Poole said. tion. Behind the scenes, an announcer air defense in the vicinity of objective
The primary goal of the JFE was — lined up nine M1A1 Abrams batle called a play-by-play of the action Desoto.”
to use a joint capability to seize an tanks and fired on near-peer enemy A month ago, he said “based on over a loud speaker.
DLU¿HOGDQGWKHQRQFHVHFXUHGVHL]H forces from “Denovia,” one of the the BFB ramping up their cleansing, “Everything went off as planned
additional objectives and also expand WZR¿FWLRQDOFRXQWULHVLQYROYHGLQWKH as well as Denovian actions along the Using their tank’s main guns, along without a hitch,” Larsen said. “All
the lodgment there to bring on a larger FRQÀLFWWKDWZDVFHQWUDOWRWKHH[HUFLVH border, some training actions, the U.S. ZLWKPDFKLQHJXQ¿UHDQGDLGHGE\ the guys were shooting great. All the
force, if needed. The concept of a joint scenario. sent some Special Operations soldiers AH-64 Apache aircraft, the tankers crews were doing the right things.
force, working together, to come into to assist in training some local person- delivered devastating blows to enemy There was great movement. Every-
an area held by an enemy, seize that Lt. Col. Jon Poole, the operations nel within those provinces in Atropia Denovian forces. thing looked and sounded great.”
area, and create an opening for fol- RI¿FHUIRUWKH1DWLRQDO7UDLQLQJ&HQ- — at the request of the Atropian gov-
low-on American forces to enter into ter, explained the training scenario in ernment, in conducting unconvention- “They are holes now,” said Capt. Once Larsen and the other tanks had
a battle space is a joint forcible entry. detail, which involved the fictional al warfare operations.” William Larsen of their targets. He made the area safe, a HIMARS rolled
countries of “Atropia” and “Denovia.” served as commander of one of the LQDQG¿UHGRIIVHYHUDOURFNHWVPHDQW
“This is about deterrence. We are Finally, just nine days before the tanks, as well as commander of Delta to take out enemy air defenses that
making sure everybody knows that Within the scenario, the four north- start of the JFE, he said, Denovian Company, 1st Squadron, 11th [Ar- were protecting a landing strip located
we have a capability, if we have to, to ern provinces of Atropia held elections military forces, a near-peer army, mored Cavalry Regiment], known as at “Objective Desoto” — another part
force our way into an area, if it is in nine months ago that put in charge a crossed into Atropia. the “Death Dealers.” of Fort Irwin where spectators would
our nation’s best interest,” said Chief “Balosivar ethnic group,” which he later be taken to watch another part of
of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odier- abbreviated as “BFB,” that subse- Watching the war unfold “What we did was set the condi- the exercise.
no. “I think it’s important for everyone quently began ethnic cleansing of Spectators had been bussed into the tions for the bigger picture for the
to understand we have this capability. ethnic Atropians. JFE exercise. It kind of tells the story “This is kind of the next step,” Lars-
That’s why it is so important we work “war zone” and set up on bleachers about an artillery raid being done by en said of the JFE. “It’s something that
on this and practice it.” Three months later, “we saw some to watch the battle unfold. The tanks the High Mobility Artillery Rocket hasn’t been practiced as much in the
Denovian cross-border action that was were just a short hike away from System (HIMARS),” he said. “We at- last ten years, where we had focused
Soldiers with the 11th Armored condemned by the U.S. and Europe. viewers. Those in the bleachers were tacked forward to create the space for on counter-insurgency. This is really to
Calvary Regiment at Fort Irwin, along The U.N. security council drafted show, and practice, being able to inte-
with partners from XVIII Airborne
Corps; 82nd Airborne Division; 75th grate different international and inter-
Ranger Regiment; 3rd Battalion, 10th
Special Forces Group (Airborne); as governmental agencies, and within the
well as units from the U.S. Air Force
were called upon, as part of the JFE, services as well; to be able to project
to demonstrate their ability to work
together to project American military combat power forward if needed.”
power anywhere across the globe.
Sgt. Zachary Egan, in the Army for
Showing the interoperability of
forces, highlighting the interdepen- four years now, served as the gunner
dence, and testing the ability of joint LQ/DUVHQ¶VWDQN+HVDLGKH¿UHGRII
forces to work together, was a criti-
cal part of the JFE, said Gen. Joseph three rounds from the tank’s main
L. Votel, commander of U.S. Special
Operations Command. gun. “It’s awesome, especially when
“One of the key lessons we’ve you see the round impact downrange,”
learned over the last 14-15 years of
constant war from a Special Opera- Egan said of pulling the trigger.
tions standpoint, is that we are hugely
dependent on the conventional forces. Egan said he recognizes the impor-
6 tance of the JFE and of the spectators
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strate to decision-makers just how im-
portant it is what he and his team does.
“For us as tankers, this is our job.
We realize where we fit in on the
battlefield. Others, they are looking
at budgets. And this is kind of an ex-
pensive beast,” he said, pointing to
his tank. “To us, it’s still a necessary
beast. To me, this kind of shows other
people that don’t get exposed to this,
Army photograph by C. Todd Lopez how important we are on the modern
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6ROGLHUVLQJKLOOLHVXLWVSDUWLFLSDWHGLQWKH-RLQW)RUFLEOH(QWU\H[HUFLVH$XJDWWKH1DWLRQDO7UDLQLQJ&HQWHU
RQ)RUW,UZLQ&DOLI Larsen, Egan, tank driver Spec.
Levi Benson and shell loader Sgt.
See EXERCISE, Page 8
Aerotech News and Review August 21, 2015
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