{"id":45480,"date":"2023-10-08T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/08\/how-a-shovel-can-help-with-training-plus-common-mistakes-during-drill\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:59:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:59:22","slug":"how-a-shovel-can-help-with-training-plus-common-mistakes-during-drill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2023\/10\/08\/how-a-shovel-can-help-with-training-plus-common-mistakes-during-drill\/","title":{"rendered":"How a shovel can help with training, plus common mistakes during drill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A company commander\u2019s best tool for surviving the crucible of a combat training center<\/a> may be a shovel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commanders headed for their time \u201cin the box\u201d at any of the major training centers<\/a> across the Army \u2014 from the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, to the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Germany to the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Johnson, Louisiana \u2014 will need to do a lot of home station preparation and get their soldiers digging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s one of a slew of tips that some current observer controllers\/trainers at the centers shared at the recent Maneuver Warfighter Conference on Fort Moore, Georgia, during a session aimed at company commanders heading to the centers. Capt. Joseph White and 1st Sgt. Brandon Robinson, both cadre with the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, said the most significant struggle at their location isn\u2019t related to technology but rather discipline and standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre your soldiers doing the right thing when you\u2019re not there?\u201d White said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means putting out security at every halt, digging proper fighting positions, building range cards or putting up camouflage netting every time a vehicle parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maj. Thomas Green and 1st Sgt. Jose Rodriguez, Joint Readiness Training Center cadre, told attendees that while they\u2019ll be on the move much more than in past rotations or overseas deployments, planning for simple things makes a huge difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHave a plan to store, transport, issue and recover equipment, charge batteries, and evacuate personnel,\u201d Green shared during a presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But high-tech thinking is also valuable. The opposition force at these centers has its own drones and ways to find communication devices. The Army\u2019s Cyber School commandant, Brig. Gen. Brian Vile, said in a separate panel that his electronic warfare soldiers can identify printers, improperly grounded generators and cellphones, then target those signals near instantaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one snapshot of an area at the the National Training Center, cadre showed the activity of 729 wireless devices, 617 of which were mobile phone devices categorized by cell service carrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
U.S. soldiers from the Field Artillery Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment as well as British soldiers respond to a chemical attack during the exercise Saber Junction at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center near Hohenfels, Germany, on Sept. 14, 2023. (1st Sgt. Michel Sauret\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Capt. Aaron Waller, National Training Center cadre, said a concerning excuse he hears from commanders is that they \u201cdon\u2019t have time to plan\u201d their movements, so they resort to \u201cmovement to contact\u201d \u2014 basically pushing out soldiers until they make contact with the enemy as a crude sort of reconnaissance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMovement to contact is a last resort,\u201d Waller said. \u201cIt\u2019s what we do after we\u2019ve exhausted every other means.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To combine age-old tactics with newer tech, Waller and other trainers advised to use drones early and often. \u201cProper employment of [small unmanned aerial systems] can place you at an advantage over the enemy,\u201d Waller said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond a hasty recon, drone use also helps captains and other junior commanders answer priority intelligence requirements from their headquarters, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But drone use doesn\u2019t happen on the fly. Waller and others exhorted commanders to incorporate the devices into home station training so soldiers are prepared when they arrive at the training center. The same goes for maintenance practices, logistics loading, and tactical and administrative movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s not the entire story because training at the centers has become more rigorous. Administrative movements \u2014 rolling a convoy of vehicles from one training spot to the next, much like a unit would do on civilian roads near their home station \u2014 doesn\u2019t happen anymore at the centers. Admin moves are now tactical. Commanders who don\u2019t put out security and plan their convoy operations will suffer the consequences \u2014 a strike from the opposition force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, commanders are getting dinged for ineffectively planning their fires missions. Waller and other cadre admonished commanders to coordinate with their intelligence cells and tie every sensor in their inventory to a shooter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deliberate fires planning, especially ahead of the rotation, will save rounds downrange, the argument goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waller said commanders must practice organic fires missions ahead of their arrival at a training center, especially with mortars and drones. Those are often the quickest and cheapest ways to react to contact or to conduct a hasty fire mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bigger-ticket items, such as Javelin missiles, should be spared for higher-value targets and distributed with a plan in mind, Waller said. \u201cIt\u2019s a deliberate synchronization of your assets when you need it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Otherwise, as Waller has seen, a unit will fire most if not all its rockets from one shooter, and then end up empty when the counterattack arrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment play the role of opposition forces while rolling through a training village in Stryker vehicles during Saber Junction at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center near Hohenfels, Germany, on Sept. 13, 2023. (1st Sgt. Michel Sauret\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And perhaps the least alluring, but possibly the most important, is maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waller said the most successful commanders at the National Training Center spend a lot of time with their vehicles and know what\u2019s available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe best predictor of what maintenance is going to look like on Training Day 10 is how maintenance looks on Day 1,\u201d Waller said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Basic security tasks, communication, logistics and maintenance planning make all the 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