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42nd Infantry Division
Tackles New Enemy
Rainbow Leaders Deploy for Combat Simulation Training
By Maj. Richard Goldenberg, Public Affairs Officer, 42nd
Infantry Division
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, Kansas ……More than one thousand members of the
Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division, famous as the Army's Rainbow
Division, deployed this August to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for a battle
simulation exercise that replicates the demands of modern warfare.
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| Colonel Mark Heffner, 42nd ID Chief of Staff responds
to questions during a press conference conducted by Warfighter role
players as part of the WFX. |
Known
as a Warfighter Exercise, the training pitches Rainbow Division leadership
and staff against the Army's Opposing Force, or OPFOR, to sharpen planning
and coordination skills for combat operations. The Battle Command Training
Center at Fort Leavenworth conducts this training for all active and National
Guard divisions about every four years.
"In recent years, our enemies have changed and with them, our OPFOR,"
said Maj. Gen. George T. Garrett, 42nd Infantry Division Commander. "Information
dominance, civil affairs and asymmetrical warfare are not just buzz words.
At this Warfighter, the Rainbow Division put them into practice,"
Garrett noted.
This
exercise, called "Balkan Rainbow" to reflect the new battlefield
scenario, marks the first real fight against the new OPFOR, referred to
as the new Combat Operating Environment, or COE. In the past, the Army
trained against forces that followed Cold War doctrine and tactics. The
Rainbow fight this August pitted US forces against a modern equipped OPFOR
who would avoid direct combat and try to draw Rainbow forces into urban
centers or use civilians on the battlefield to sway world opinion through
role-playing media reporters.
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| Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki
and Maj. Gen. George T. Garrett 42nd Infantry Division Commander discuss
the 42nd Infantry Division's Warfighter exercise. |
"The
old soviet-style paradigm of enemy forces is gone," said General
(retired) Edwin H. Burba, the senior observer of the exercise. "Our
enemies are much more flexible and capable these days and our planning
and reaction time is far more compressed," he said.
More than 165 soldiers from the division headquarters in Troy joined 42nd
Division soldiers from across the country at Fort Leavenworth. Brigade
and separate battalion leadership arrived from the Rainbow's eight states
as well as Active Army and Army Reserve slice soldiers from across the
country.
The
Rainbow Division is a multi-state National Guard Division that includes
troops from New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, Delaware and Illinois.
"This
exercise brings together leaders and soldiers from every Rainbow command
in every Rainbow State," said division Chief of Staff Col. Mark Heffner.
"Our training at the Warfighter better prepares us for whatever contingency
may arise in our home states, whether natural disaster, homeland security,
or federal response," he said.
The
division last gathered at Fort Leavenworth for a Warfighter exercise in
1998. That rotation came shortly after the division's multiple state emergency
mobilizations for the devastating North Country Ice Storm and Stillwater
tornado in upstate New York. This year's training followed the demanding
deployment of Rainbow soldiers to support New York City's recovery efforts
after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.
"After
deploying this headquarters to New York City in September 2001, we discovered
that our leadership and organization process can adapt to almost any situation,"
said Heffner. "The roles and capabilities of the Rainbow Division
headquarters quickly integrated with the city's Office of Emergency Management."
"The
reason we were so successful as a joint task force headquarters in New
York City," stated Garrett, "is that we were able to draw from
what we learned in the past right here at Warfighter."
"The
hallmark of this division is the element of teamwork that we bring to
the fight," Garrett said.
The
battlefield, set in the fictitious countries of Southland, Westland and
Northland reflect the modern nature of Army combat deployments: urban
centers, civilians on the battlefield, information warfare, and ethnic
and political unrest.
"This
has been a very positive exercise," said Lt. Gen. Joseph R. Inge,
the First US Army commander who also served as the corps commander for
the Rainbow Division's exercise. "The quality, professionalism, discipline
and tremendous teamwork of this division exceeded even my high expectations
based on your performance in New York City," he said.
The battle at Leavenworth is not without challenges. Every staff section
in the division is stressed to conduct planning and coordination to support
an actual deployment of more than 15,000 soldiers to combat. From medical
evacuation to replacement operations, combat maintenance and supply planning
to enemy prisoner of war processing to coordinated artillery and aviation
attacks to support the infantry and armor, Balkan Rainbow provided demands
on every staff element.
"Professional,
competent, and motivated leadership makes the difference in the fight,"
said Col. Peter Palmer, commander of the Battle Command Training Program
at Fort Leavenworth. "The 42nd Division leaders were always in the
fight, always in the front. We want to congratulate you all for your success
here," he said.
"The
important thing to remember is that our soldiers get to learn the lessons
of combat here," Garrett said. "This is not a game if we ever
have to do it for real, and our soldiers know it."
"No
country in this world has a treasure like our National Guard," said
Inge, addressing the Rainbow soldiers after the exercise. "You are
the cornerstone of this nation, from Valley Forge to Afghanistan."
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