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Fort Benning team collects lessons in Iraq

Apr-23-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

Lori sent us this great article from the U.S. Army Training & Doctrine Command website. Thanks!

[Link to Full Article]
By Sgt. Kim Dooley/The Bayonet

FORT BENNING, Ga. (April 16, 2004) – When 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, hit the ground in Iraq in November, it set a precedent for the Army’s mode of fighting.

The brigade, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., is the first unit to conduct combat operations using the Army’s newest fighting vehicle, the Stryker.

The Stryker Brigade Combat Team has also become a key source for “lessons learned” — lessons that will influence doctrine, training and logistical issues for future Stryker brigades.

But these aren’t lessons that can be communicated on paper. Rather, they require firsthand, up-close-and-personal interaction with the equipment, the unit and the mission.

To that end, a team from Fort Benning’s Combined Arms and Tactics Directorate paid a visit to the SBCT in Mosul, Iraq, last month. Headed up by Col. Edmund Woolfolk, CATD director, the three-man team spent eight days with the brigade, collecting feedback from leaders and Soldiers, observing the unit in action and joining in operations.

“It’s one thing to learn about all this secondhand, but it’s totally different to get out there and actually experience some of the friction and hardship the young leaders out on the tip of the spear are facing,” Woolfolk said. “You’ve got to actually participate in the operations — it’s the best way to collect (information).”

The team joined the unit’s troops on patrols — day and night, mounted and dismounted — raids and a cordon-and-search mission.
Woolfolk jumped in on a raid to capture “blacklisted and noncompliant personnel” and to search for contraband – i.e., weapons and explosives.


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