An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March / April 2024 www.military.ie/magazine S ABER JUNCTION is an annual exercise conducted by the U.S. Army's 7th Army Training Command (7th ATC) designed to prepare and test a U.S. Army Brigade Combat Team, with an emphasis on Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCOs). For SABER JUNCTION 23, held between the 28th August and 23rd September 2023, the U.S. Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment (2CR) was the lead element of the Blue Forces (BLUFOR) undergoing training. Over 5,000 troops from more than a dozen NATO and Partnership for Peace states took part in the main ground phase of the exercise between the 6th and 16th of September. Following engagement with their U.S. Army Europe and Africa counterparts, J7 Training and Education Branch received an invitation to send a small Defence Forces team to observe SABER JUNCTION 23. The team spent a week observing the exercise and interacting with 2CR, the Opposition Forces (OPFOR), and 7th ATC training and exercise control personnel. Despite its title, 2CR is in fact a mechanised combined-arms brigade- strength formation of seven squadrons, primarily equipped with the Stryker family of vehicles. In addition, 2CR was reinforced by elements of the French 92e Régiment d'Infanterie (a unit of Irish descent equipped with the latest French VBCI infantry fighting vehicles), a squadron from the British 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (equipped with Jackal and Coyote vehicles), and U.S. Army aviation assets (including AH-64E Apaches, CH-47 Chinooks, and UH-60 Blackhawks), engineering, and special forces elements. Smaller contingents from Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Lithuania, and North Macedonia also took part. Aside from the troops under exercise in Germany, the higher levels of command were also exercised remotely, with elements of 2CR operating from their home barracks in Vilseck, Germany, and the Polish 11th Armoured Cavalry Division headquarters serving as 2CR's higher command from its base in Zagan, Poland. SABER JUNCTION is typically divided into three main "engagement" phases, with the BLUFOR conducting a defence, followed by a consolidation, and then a BLUFOR offensive over the course of approximately ten days in the field. However, planning and movement to and from the training area are also conducted as part of the overall exercise, ensuring that Combat Support and Combat Service Support elements are exercised in addition to the Combat elements. The emphasis on CS and CSS throughout SABER JUNCTION were noteworthy – 2CR operated as they would be expected to in the field, and had to be totally self-sufficient for the duration of the exercise, relying on its organic logistics to sustain it. While the main phases and events of SABER JUNCTION are scripted and supervised by the exercise control, the vast majority of the exercise is a free play scenario where actions have consequences. The pace of the exercise was intense, and at times punishing for 2CR's personnel and equipment. Nevertheless, 2CR and its partners successfully achieved their objectives in all phases of SABER JUNCTION 23, and was deemed to have performed well by exercise control. SABER JUNCTION takes place at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC), a U.S. Army training facility located within the 163km2 of the Hohenfels Training Area in Bavaria, southern Germany – for comparison, the Glen of Imaal is approximately 27km2 and the Curragh Plains are less than 20km2. Hohenfels (known as "the Box") features a wide variety of terrain, over a thousand training buildings, 319km of roads and trails, and a small airfield – with two more temporary airfields constructed during the course of the exercise! The entire Box is enabled for simulated combat through instrumentation throughout the training area and on troops and vehicles – primarily the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES). The use of these systems allows for realistic effects (ranging from simulated rifle fire, up to massed artillery and even CBRN strikes – an option only available to the OPFOR) to impact on troops, equipment and the environment; when "killed" troops have to wait to be "recycled" and reintroduced to the scenario as reinforcements. The wide use of instrumentation and simulation also allows for detailed tracking and visualisation of the battlespace by exercise control. The Box also features seven habitable villages. These villages are fully functioning, and during exercises are actually lived in by a combination of professional training staff (including veterans) and paid actors to enable realistic training scenarios to take place. The use of these "civilians" to give character to locations is a simple but very effective idea, and ensures the training area is dynamic and not an entirely empty space. The villages feature real amenities, such as cafés and shops, residential and community areas and buildings, fuel stations and garages, and religious sites – even graveyards. The Box as a whole also features a digital world complete with social media networks with real time information and impacts on the ground during the course of the exercise. The villages are suitable for the full range of Military Operations in Urban Terrain – AH-64E Apache Helicopter SABER JUNCTION 23 ARTICLE BY CAPT JORDAN CORRIGAN PHOTOS BY CAPT CORRIGAN & CS MCENEANEY A 2CR Forward Command Post DF Observers – [L-R] Capt Jordan Corrigan (Cavalry School), Capt Michael Crawley (27 Inf Bn), Sgt Thomas Conlon (1ACS), Capt Louise Dixon (2Bde G7), Capt Paul Farrell (J7), CS Shane McEneaney (27 Inf Bn)

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