By Staff Sgt. Joel Salgado, 3rd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team ‘Rakkasans’, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), recently wrapped up a ten-day training exercise here March 17, 2014.
The Leader Battalion Field Training Exercise consisted of a series of platoon-level training events including security forces training, situational training, live fire events and integration of indirect fire and close air support. The training was designed to evaluate the unit’s lethal platoons on a variety of collective tasks in preparation for Operation Golden Eagle and the Brigade’s scheduled rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center.
“Our FTX was designed to build lethal platoons,” said Lt. Col. Marc Cloutier, the battalion commander for 1-187. “They trained in mounted and dismounted react to contacts, and attacks, under both day and night conditions. Additionally, our FTX trained our mission command systems, our logistics functions, as well as our medical capabilities.”
The training stretched across a wide area encompassing several different ranges to offer unique challenges to the training audience.