NcDeuce
08-08-2005, 12:09 PM
Next deployment a test drive for modular units
101st will return to Iraq bringing more experience, new organzation
By CHANTAL ESCOTO
The Leaf-Chronicle
The mission for the 101st Airborne Division's upcoming deployment to Iraq will likely be similar to the tour of 2003-04 — helping the country achieve democracy.
Because many of the division's 18,000 soldiers have combat experience in the Middle East, getting acclimated to the country and the mission may be a little smoother this time. Troops can expect duties of conducting patrols, rebuilding infrastructure, training Iraqi security forces and, of course, combat.
Commanding general Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Turner said while the mission will be no different than when the division was last deployed, much of the work in-country will involve securing the environment and training Iraqi security forces.
"We will continue to have a role in fighting the insurgency as Iraqis form units and train, and we will continue to have a role in nation building," Turner said in an e-mail message. "These roles will decrease over time as the Iraqis assume more and more responsibility."
Modular units
The 101st has undergone massive tactical changes since its last tour in Iraq. After an Armywide transformation, the units are now better equipped and more finely tuned with one another.
The 101st, along with the Army's nine other divisions, has evolved by breaking up existing units to form modular brigade combat teams (BCTs). As part of the change, more than 2,500 soldiers were added to the division along with additional modern equipment and technology.
The BCT concept is not new to the Army; the only difference is that the BCT trains together on and off post as well as fighting together on the battlefield.
The 159th and 101st Aviation Brigades are the exception and have not been attached to BCTs. This is so the Apache, Black Hawk, Chinook and Kiowa Warrior helicopters can be dispatched for special tasks.
For example, if a brigade commander is given orders to secure a section of a town, he can gather infantry, artillery, military intelligence and civil affairs quickly and efficiently to accomplish the task because he already "owns" the resources.
Previously, such assets would have to be assembled from other units.
While much of the process was learned on the job while the 101st was deployed to Iraq from March 2003 to February 2004, training is vital in knowing what to expect, especially for those who have never been in a battle zone.
Training together
Recent Joint Readiness Training Center exercises at Fort Polk, La., took the scenario to a new level by turning wooded swampland into an Iraqi village complete with mosques, gated homes, foreign vehicles and nearly 1,000 Iraqi role players — friends and foes.
Pyrotechnics training was pumped up, allowing soldiers to use what they learned in Iraq to recognize and avoid roadside bombs, respond to attacks and counterattacks, and sift quickly through information that can save lives.
Col. Tom Vail, 4th Brigade commander, said he was excited to see his soldiers so motivated — many of them volunteered from other units to be part of the new brigade.
"It showed through their enthusiasm, their spirit; and there was cohesion," said Vail. "Their spirits were high, and physical and mental stamina was tested, and they performed very well."
Vail said his brigade is still waiting for its regimental affiliation to be announced by the Department of the Army. The division had at one time requested it be the 506 Infantry Regiment — the same unit that jumped into Europe during World War II. HBO made a movie about the 506th's Easy Company called "Band of Brothers."
Changes in action
Turner said he was "very encouraged" after seeing the 101st perform at JRTC with the new "units of action," and he's confident soldiers will accomplish whatever mission they're assigned in Iraq.
"Last summer, we broke nearly every team, from squad to brigade staff, as we formed the modular force. What we saw at JRTC were very aggressive, agile and skilled individuals, squads, sections and platoons," Turner said. "Soldiers were comfortable with ambiguity and invariably made the right choices, executed violently, and refused to quit until they won. This was encouraging because it showed we had not broken the culture, the ethos of an air assault unit.
"New equipment and new concepts can be rapidly integrated into our formations. If we had destroyed the culture of the 101st as we reorganized, however, we would be hard pressed to deploy combat-ready."
Technology
The 101st's new state-of-the-art equipment includes satellite communications and the Blue Force Tracker.
Similar to a global positioning device, the Blue Force Tracker is placed in vehicles to give locations. Seventy-eight 101st vehicles were outfitted with the device during the last deployment to Iraq. Blue Force produces a blue dot on a computer screen so the vehicle can be tracked when it moves, giving commanders real-time information of other units' whereabouts and helping to prevent friendly fire incidents.
Blue Force can also send and receive short text messages. The division will have nearly 1,800 vehicles equipped with the Blue Force Tracker.
Another new tool, the Prophet Signal Interceptor, detects high-frequency VHF and UHF signals at longer ranges and can be installed in a Humvee.
While updating equipment is important, it's the troops, Turner says, that will always be the division's dominant asset.
"The strength of the 101st has always been, and continues to be, the quality of our individual soldier," he said.
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/2347/bilde8gv.jpg
Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Turner, Fort Campbell and 101st Airborne Division commander, says the 101st's coming mission in Iraq will be similar to the mission of the last deployment. Pictured with him are U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Fort Campbell's command Sgt. Maj. Frank Grippe.
101st will return to Iraq bringing more experience, new organzation
By CHANTAL ESCOTO
The Leaf-Chronicle
The mission for the 101st Airborne Division's upcoming deployment to Iraq will likely be similar to the tour of 2003-04 — helping the country achieve democracy.
Because many of the division's 18,000 soldiers have combat experience in the Middle East, getting acclimated to the country and the mission may be a little smoother this time. Troops can expect duties of conducting patrols, rebuilding infrastructure, training Iraqi security forces and, of course, combat.
Commanding general Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Turner said while the mission will be no different than when the division was last deployed, much of the work in-country will involve securing the environment and training Iraqi security forces.
"We will continue to have a role in fighting the insurgency as Iraqis form units and train, and we will continue to have a role in nation building," Turner said in an e-mail message. "These roles will decrease over time as the Iraqis assume more and more responsibility."
Modular units
The 101st has undergone massive tactical changes since its last tour in Iraq. After an Armywide transformation, the units are now better equipped and more finely tuned with one another.
The 101st, along with the Army's nine other divisions, has evolved by breaking up existing units to form modular brigade combat teams (BCTs). As part of the change, more than 2,500 soldiers were added to the division along with additional modern equipment and technology.
The BCT concept is not new to the Army; the only difference is that the BCT trains together on and off post as well as fighting together on the battlefield.
The 159th and 101st Aviation Brigades are the exception and have not been attached to BCTs. This is so the Apache, Black Hawk, Chinook and Kiowa Warrior helicopters can be dispatched for special tasks.
For example, if a brigade commander is given orders to secure a section of a town, he can gather infantry, artillery, military intelligence and civil affairs quickly and efficiently to accomplish the task because he already "owns" the resources.
Previously, such assets would have to be assembled from other units.
While much of the process was learned on the job while the 101st was deployed to Iraq from March 2003 to February 2004, training is vital in knowing what to expect, especially for those who have never been in a battle zone.
Training together
Recent Joint Readiness Training Center exercises at Fort Polk, La., took the scenario to a new level by turning wooded swampland into an Iraqi village complete with mosques, gated homes, foreign vehicles and nearly 1,000 Iraqi role players — friends and foes.
Pyrotechnics training was pumped up, allowing soldiers to use what they learned in Iraq to recognize and avoid roadside bombs, respond to attacks and counterattacks, and sift quickly through information that can save lives.
Col. Tom Vail, 4th Brigade commander, said he was excited to see his soldiers so motivated — many of them volunteered from other units to be part of the new brigade.
"It showed through their enthusiasm, their spirit; and there was cohesion," said Vail. "Their spirits were high, and physical and mental stamina was tested, and they performed very well."
Vail said his brigade is still waiting for its regimental affiliation to be announced by the Department of the Army. The division had at one time requested it be the 506 Infantry Regiment — the same unit that jumped into Europe during World War II. HBO made a movie about the 506th's Easy Company called "Band of Brothers."
Changes in action
Turner said he was "very encouraged" after seeing the 101st perform at JRTC with the new "units of action," and he's confident soldiers will accomplish whatever mission they're assigned in Iraq.
"Last summer, we broke nearly every team, from squad to brigade staff, as we formed the modular force. What we saw at JRTC were very aggressive, agile and skilled individuals, squads, sections and platoons," Turner said. "Soldiers were comfortable with ambiguity and invariably made the right choices, executed violently, and refused to quit until they won. This was encouraging because it showed we had not broken the culture, the ethos of an air assault unit.
"New equipment and new concepts can be rapidly integrated into our formations. If we had destroyed the culture of the 101st as we reorganized, however, we would be hard pressed to deploy combat-ready."
Technology
The 101st's new state-of-the-art equipment includes satellite communications and the Blue Force Tracker.
Similar to a global positioning device, the Blue Force Tracker is placed in vehicles to give locations. Seventy-eight 101st vehicles were outfitted with the device during the last deployment to Iraq. Blue Force produces a blue dot on a computer screen so the vehicle can be tracked when it moves, giving commanders real-time information of other units' whereabouts and helping to prevent friendly fire incidents.
Blue Force can also send and receive short text messages. The division will have nearly 1,800 vehicles equipped with the Blue Force Tracker.
Another new tool, the Prophet Signal Interceptor, detects high-frequency VHF and UHF signals at longer ranges and can be installed in a Humvee.
While updating equipment is important, it's the troops, Turner says, that will always be the division's dominant asset.
"The strength of the 101st has always been, and continues to be, the quality of our individual soldier," he said.
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/2347/bilde8gv.jpg
Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Turner, Fort Campbell and 101st Airborne Division commander, says the 101st's coming mission in Iraq will be similar to the mission of the last deployment. Pictured with him are U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Fort Campbell's command Sgt. Maj. Frank Grippe.