1-150TH Cavalry Regiment of the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team fires TOW missiles during The Army National Guard’s eXportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC) at Fort Bliss Texas.
In addition to enhancing the skills of the individual Soldiers, Operation Hickory Sting offered a rare opportunity for the unit to train as a complete brigade. This brought unique advantages to the training field.
“Our primary mission is to develop a picture of the battlefield and provide recommendations to the brigade commander to assist him in deploying his assets to defeat the threat,” explained SSG Chad Blair of the 1st Squadron, 150th Cavalry Regiment. “Working together as a brigade allows us to enhance this capability. By having the rest of the brigade in the same training area, we were able to start implementing that tactic more proficiently.”
During the XCTC, Soldiers were evaluated by Observer Coach (OC) trainers, who evaluated the 30th’s tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to examine how well the unit performed during the multiple training lanes and live-fire exercises, and ultimately determine if the Soldiers were meeting the commander’s training objectives.
“We had OCs evaluating us all the way down,” explained SFC Timothy Collins of the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 113th Field Artillery. “They give us things to work on to set us up for our NTC rotation.”
As the largest maneuver training site in the U.S. Army, Fort Bliss was the perfect setting for the 30th ABCT’s XCTC. With more than 965,000 acres, 54 training areas, 29 villages and towns, 58 live-fire ranges, 1,700 miles of tank trials and 343 million cubic acres of airspace, Fort Bliss is one of the few locations with more than adequate land and infrastructure to meet the robust standards necessary to fulfill the training requirements of the 30th ABCT.
“The good thing about [Fort Bliss] is the terrain is so open,” said SFC Collins. “At Fort Bragg, you don’t get that. This area gives us a great opportunity to train in a more realistic [environment].”
