Page 8 - Aerotech News and Review 8-21-15

EXERCISE, from 6

Jonathan Oliver — the four crew members from
just one of the Abrams tanks that had participated
— made themselves available to spectators after
the initial demonstration. They had driven their
tank the short distance to the spectator stand.
They stood near their tank and answered ques-
tions from civilian reporters and generals alike.
Off in the distance, miles away from spectators,
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Three obectives Army photographs by C. Todd Lopez
The HIMARS had launched rockets over a
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distant mountain, not at the enemy vehicles that 7UDLQLQJ&HQWHURQ)RUW,UZLQ&DOLI
were visible at the base of those mountains.
Where those rockets hit was not visible to spec- the Rangers, and then quickly return to the sky. 82nd safely on the ground, with the landing strip that don’t go as well as we want them to, and we
tators. But they were in fact aimed at enemy air With the Rangers on the ground, the landing secured — thanks to a joint effort that involved will learn from that,” Votel said. “This is about
defenses on the other side of the mountains that both special and conventional forces, as well as building readiness and about creating experienc-
were protecting the landing strip American forces strip was secured. This allowed follow-on forces, the U.S. Air Force. es together that allow us to provide options and
aimed to seize as part of “Objective Desoto.” WKHQG$LUERUQHWRÀ\LQIURPQHDUE\0DUFK do things in a more effective way in the future.”
Air Force Base in C-130 aircraft and drop both The JFE involved special forces and conven-
After watching Abrams tanks and three equipment and soldiers onto the landing strip via tional forces working together against a “hybrid Odierno said the real-world missions similar
Apache helicopters eliminate Denovian forces, parachute. threat” that included insurgents, terrorists, crim- to the scenario that drove the JFE could happen
and the HIMARS launch its rockets over the inal elements and conventional near-peer forces. anywhere in the world.
mountains, spectators were bussed to a nearby Spectators, who had each been given night-
landing strip and loaded aboard CH-47 Chinook vision scopes with which to watch the operation Votel said the lessons learned from the JFE “It’s up to us to have the capability to go any-
helicopters for a 12-minute ride to Objective at the landing strip, wouldn’t be able to see the ZLOOHQVXUHWKH$UP\LVUHDG\IRUDQ\¿JKWLWPD\ where anytime, no matter what continent it is,
Desoto, where they would watch the second Rangers and the 82nd take the two nearby towns face in what the Army’s chief of staff has called and be able to put a joint capability on the ground
phase of the operation. that were held not by Denovian conventional an increasingly complex world. that can secure terrain that then allows us to bring
forces, but terrorist forces. Nor would spectators on follow-on forces,” Odierno said. “We have the
Desoto actually included three sub-objectives be able to see additional U.S. forces or equip- “This creates more muscle memory with these capability to do this.”
— each with their own name. First was the land- ment come in, or the noncombatant evacuation organizations. While we may never exactly rep-
ing strip, called “Objective Coolidge.” Rangers operation that would happen later in the day. licate exactly what we are doing tonight, there The general said the JFE exercise is something
with the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, will be lessons learned; there will be experiences he wants to see happen on a yearly basis.
À\LQJLQ&92VSUH\DLUFUDIWIURP-RLQW%DVH What they had seen was the Rangers and the out of this, we will see things that go well, things
Lewis-McChord, Wash., about 900 miles north
would be responsible for securing the strip. Aerotech News and Review August 21, 2015

To the west of the landing strip, about 1,500 www.aerotechnews.com ........ facebook.com/aerotechnewsandreview
meters away, is a small town called “Nur” on the
Fort Irwin map. For visitors, it’s one of a dozen
or more fabricated prop-towns that are used for
training purposes. The Army built these small
towns, like Hollywood sets, all over Fort Irwin.
For the Army Rangers participating in the JFE
exercise, it was “Objective Carter.”

Less than 300 meters south of the landing
strip was “Objective Cleveland,” another train-
ing town on Fort Irwin, called “Dezashah.”
Paratroopers from 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne,
would drop from the sky onto the landing strip —
after it had been secured by the Rangers — and
then proceed south to take control of the town.

Up in the mountains overlooking Objective
Desoto were soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 10th Spe-
cial Forces Group, known as Green Berets.

“They have been there for days, watching this
objective. Real Soldiers, watching and reporting
everything that’s been going on out here,” said
Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commander of the
XVIII Airborne Corps.

Townsend explained to spectators how the
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Outside a large hospitality tent set up near the
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loaded with hay bales. The center was hollowed
out so Green Berets could hide in the center.
Another, a panel truck with the rear door open,
looked as if it was loaded with household goods
to be taken off to the city junkyard. At the very
back, pointing outward was a washer and dryer
unit. The door to the dryer was open and it was
possible to crawl into the dryer, right through its
back, into the empty space at the rear of the truck
where more Green Berets could hide.

Seizing Objective Desoto took the coordi-
nated efforts of conventional forces and special
operations forces. First, there were pre-assault
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strip and dropped munitions on various enemy
air-defense targets that had been highlighted by
Green Berets.

Clearing out those enemy forces enabled the
Rangers to seize the landing strip. They had
flown in from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in
CV-22 Ospreys. The tilt-rotor aircraft were able
to land vertically, like helicopters, and drop off

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