FORT BLISS, Texas – Air Defense Soldiers from across the 32d Army Air and Missile Defense Command recently participated in Roving Sands 22, May 14-23. The exercise spanned multiple training areas of Fort Bliss and is the only event of its kind in the U.S. Army.
The Roving Sands exercise is designed as an opportunity to assess the operational capability and training methods used by air defense artillery brigades and to test their systems in simulated large-scale combat operations.
“Roving Sands is the largest integrated air and missile defense exercise in the continental United States involving nearly 2,000 troops, and we are conducting it as we continue to prepare for large-scale combat operations in the United States. support of our maneuver force,” said Brig. Gen. David F. Stewart, commanding general, 32d AAMDC and exercise director Roving Sands 22. “We had units from across the country, Fort Hood, Fort Sill, Fort Bragg and Fort Campbell, to support this event of center-style combat training that was world-class training for our soldiers.”
The latest iteration of Roving Sands also provided an opportunity to test new procedures and controls in the exercise for the first time.
“We were able to leverage the 1st Armored Division, a maneuver unit, to serve as higher command, which was the first time a maneuver unit replicated a corps-level unit at Roving Sands,” Major said. Andrew Sklar, Training and Exercise Support Officer, 32nd AAMDC. “This allowed the 32nd AAMDC to ensure maneuver forces understood how to realistically use air defense forces to support them on the battlefield. To simulate air defense engagements, we used the Pelorus system and Flight Mission Simulator/Digital to bring simulated theater ballistic missile combat to Patriot aircrews.
On a daily basis, units faced a multitude of warfare scenarios, such as chemical attacks, small arms engagements and mass casualty events, which tested their ability to respond to external stresses while accomplishing their overall air defense mission of defending ground forces from the air. and missile attacks.
“Roving Sands was a very good exercise. It really gave us the opportunity to work in a large-scale combat operations environment,” said Capt. Vincente Trejo, Battery Commander, Charlie Battery, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Fort Sill, Okla. “I think my battery will leave here much more competent in our military bases and our air defense skills. It’s a timely event that allows us to come away with better soldiers and a better battery.
According to Lt. Col. Matthew Inglis, Battalion Commander, 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Fort Bliss, air defense units must employ combat operations tactics on a large scale at Roving Sands they don’t. normally used during operational deployments. “Unlike CENTCOM, where we know exactly where the enemy is, and it is quite static, there is a dynamic and changing threat here that continues to challenge our defensive line and our force protection elements as well,” he said. Inglis said.
Roving Sands also attracted a number of high profile visitors, such as Command Sgt. Maj. Jacinto Garza of U.S. Army Central, Brig. General Curt Taylor of the National Training Center and senior air defense officers from Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“The thing I was most proud of during this rotation was the visit we had from the National Training Center Commander, Brig. Gen. Curt Taylor,” the command sergeant said. Maj. Jerry Jacobitz, 32d AAMDC senior enlisted advisor.
“He mentioned that he wanted to see more soldiers digging to increase their survivability,” Jacobitz said. “So when he went to see some of our Avenger system operators in the field, who had actually dug into their combat positions, he said, ‘I had to fly up to Fort Bliss, Texas, to see the standard.”