“Our battalion commander indicated he wanted to do a field training
exercise and we wanted to come here and train with Echo Company. At first it seemed to be a ‘mission impossible’ getting our entire battalion here but after many months of planning became ‘mission possible.’” — Cpt. Satomi Mack
“Our unit is located at Riverside, California, and we typically train at Ft. Hunter Liggett but that is a six hour road trip,” said Mack. “We had to coordinate the acquisition of a lot of vans and by the time we transported our Soldiers there it took over a day and a half of training time just to get them to the ranges and back home.”
Mack, a full-time film student at the University of Southern California, added the unit was also limited on the number of days they can train at Ft. Hunter Liggett based on time constraints. But in Hawaii they were able to hit the ground running with planning and did rehearsals the same day the Soldiers arrived from Calfornia.
Married Drill Sergeants Jason and Francesca Hartman, Alpha Co., 2nd Battalion, 413th Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 95th Training Division (IET), explain the task and conditions at the react to direct and indirect fire lane during the battalion field training exercise, Operation Hawaii Five-O held at Bellows Air Station, Hawaii.
Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Marty A. Collins, 108th Training Command (IET) Public Affairs.
After landing in Honolulu, the battalion Soldiers were shuttled to the 298th Hawaii National Guard compound co-located at Bellows where they were billeted. As night fell, the troops filed into the auditorium where they were briefed on the mission plan. They were also shown a video of different roadside bomb attacks that had been recorded in war zones as they may ‘encounter’ this scenario on one of the STX lanes.
“Our battalion commander indicated he wanted to do a field training exercise and we wanted to come here and train with Echo Company,” said Mack. “At first it seemed to be a ‘mission impossible’ getting our entire battalion here but after many months of planning became ‘mission possible.’”
The unit wanted to create a fictitious but believable scenario. The training grounds at Bellows were used to simulate villages near Kabul, Afghanistan. The advance party set up three STX Lanes, which were to react to direct and indirect fire, react to sniper fire, and react to roadside bombs while mounted.
Additionally, Soldiers were tested on day land navigation, night land navigation, and assaulting an insurgent headquarters. The mission was to go in and prevent any insurgent sleeper cells and to report any suspicious activity – that was the mission concept.
“The training facilities here are second to none; the MOUT sites they just finished building are state of the art and represent Iraqi and Afghan villages and are so detailed,” said Mack. “They do not have MOUT sites at Ft. Hunter Liggett but here we were able to use the old MOUT sites at Bellows Air Station to create training lanes.”
Drill Sergeants were positioned at each lane and scored each company on how well they reacted and responded to the different scenarios. The payoff was the winner of each lane would be awarded a streamer for their company guidon at the conclusion of the exercise.
Spc. Majorca Harrell, Delta Co., 2nd Battalion, 413th Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 95th Training Division (IET) on a patrol in the mock villages at Bellows Air Station, Hawaii. The Soldiers were in Hawaii as part of the field training exercise, Operation Hawaii Five-O.
Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Marty A. Collins, 108th Training Command (IET) Public Affairs.
“When they said they were going to give banners for the winners of the lanes, we were on it, we thrive in competition,” said Sgt. Ray Mata, Delta Company. “I was squad leader for all three lanes. When it comes down to it we all know what we have to do and we’ll get the job done.”
The San Jose, Calif. native, full-time student and part-time volleyball coach said for him personally the most challenging lane was the night land navigation course.
“The first thing you have to do when you join the Army is learn your basic Infantry skills. So that’s what we’re doing here is practicing our basic Infantry skills,” said Mata “It’s stuff we might not do on a day-to-day basis in our jobs but it’s stuff we need to be able to teach as drill sergeants.”
It took many hours of coordination with other military organizations in Hawaii to make the training exercise a success and truly was a purple operation.
“We worked with a lot of agencies in Hawaii to get the mission accomplished but one of the biggest obstacles was the coordination of getting our Soldiers here, within budget, as well as scheduling the training areas, meals on the ground, and reaching out to other units and seeing how we could be supported,” said Mack.
The 4960th USAR, 9th MSC, provided training aids and personnel support in issuing weapons and the 1984th USAR Hospital Unit out of Honolulu provided medical support during the training exercise. The 3rd and 4th Marine RECON Company supported the 2/413th with drivers so Soldiers didn’t have to worry about driving HUMVEES on the lanes which enabled them to stay mission focused.
The culmination of the field training exercise occurred at Waimanalo Beach where the battalion Soldiers were treated to a Hawaiian luau and the winners of the STX lanes were announced.
Charlie Company captured the day and night land navigation streamer. Delta Company was named the overall winner in the STX competition and proudly attached their streamer to their company guidon as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean officially ending the exercise.
Mack said morale was high and she was extremely proud of the 2/413th for making the mission happen and making it realistic.
“There is a misconception that you are going to fly the whole battalion to Hawaii but as far as training missions goes it has been one of the best we have ever conducted,” said Mack. “Just the amount of the things we were able to accomplish here and the facilities at Bellows are amazing, we’re ready to do it again!”
Aloha!
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Sgt. Ray Mata, Delta Co., 2nd Battalion, 413th Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 95th Training Division (IET), on a patrol in the mock villages at Bellows Air Station, Hawaii. Mata graduated from the USAR Drill Sgt. School at Ft. Jackson in March 2010. He said he thrives being able to teach Soldiers.
Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Marty A. Collins, 108th Training Command (IET) Public Affairs.
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Drill Sergeant Jason Hartman, Alpha Co., 2nd Battalion, 413th Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 95th Training Division (IET), scores Soldiers from Bravo Company at the react to direct and indirect fire lane at Bellows Air Station, Hawaii during the battalion field training exercise, Operation Hawaii Five-O.
Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Marty A. Collins, 108th Training Command (IET) Public Affairs.
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