Current reassignment policies, professional development courses and soldier taskings overseas create a turbulent personnel population. Frequent training opportunities drastically reduce the impact of personnel turbulence. With the NMS reliance on power projection for any possible contingency, the importance of these exercises cannot be overstated. As soldiers and leaders board aircraft bound for Kuwait, you can see in their eyes the confidence they have in themselves, their equipment and their leaders. You can only get that from aggressive training in realistic environments and frequent opportunities.
Confident soldiers are successful on the battlefield.
The 1st Cav Div maximizes every event to challenge leaders and soldiers in realistic scenarios. We use NTC rotations to replicate likely contingency operations conditions. Recently, during respective training rotations, the 1st and 2d Brigades deployed to Fort Irwin with a limited number of railcars. The specific number correlated to available space on aircraft in potential real-world contingencies. Decisions requiring flexibility and initiative are common when military forces respond to contingency operations.