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Wildcards conduct combined training with 37th ROK ID

Oct 19, 2010

By Cpl. Tim Oberle, 2nd CAB Public Affairs

TACTICAL ASSEMBLY AREA TOM, Republic of Korea -- One can sum up the U.S. relationship with the Republic of Korea with "Katchi Kapshida" or "We Go Together," but nothing really encapsulates the ROK/U.S. Alliance like a good old-fashioned "shoot from the hip" combined training exercise. From the planning stage to the actual carrying out of the mission, one thing reigns clear to the wayward bystander: the ROK and U.S. combined fighting force is clearly ready to "Fight Tonight."

Lt. Col. Erik Gilbert, commander of 2nd Assault Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, said he is fully aware of this need to be prepared to roll out at the drop of a dime and made it a priority upon taking over command of 2-2nd Avn. to conduct as much "high-speed" combined training as possible.

Gilbert's most recent initiative to further prepare his "Wildcard" battalion involved the integration of C Company, 2-2nd Avn. and ROK Soldiers from the 37th ROK Infantry Division in a mission to sling load four Korean 105mm Howitzers to U.S. UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters Sept. 28. The guns were then transferred to Tactical Assembly Area Tom via the helicopters where ROK Soldiers unhooked the weapons and fired blank rounds at strategic locations.

"In the event that another war ever occurs here on the Korean Peninsula, it wouldn't necessarily take place on a linear battlefield," said Cpt. John Paxton, C Co. commander and officer-in-charge for the exercise. "This is why the scenario is played out against (notional) guerrilla forces."

"It's not just the realistic nature of the training that helps both forces though," he added, "but also the experience of integrating forces that utilize different operating procedures and tactics."

"Because the integration of multinational units is difficult, we used the crawl-walk-run method. We conducted four different training preparations in order to be able to run the two-day mission," he said.

Paxton elaborated that the first mission was during the day and the second was a night mission using night vision gear.

"This is why we had to have four practice missions: to be ready for the different lighting conditions that running a night-time mission present," he said.

In order to prepare for the difficulties presented by the mission, Soldiers from 2-2nd Avn. went out of their way to make the exercise a success.

"One of our pilots, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joshua Robinson, who is a former (infantryman) reverted to his past experience and worked on the ground slinging the Howitzers to the Blackhawks," said Paxton.

"I absolutely loved working down on the ground with the ROK forces," said Robinson of C Co., 2-2nd Avn. "Working like this with Korean Soldiers helps us to unify as a single fighting force here on the peninsula."

Robinson went on to explain that "this is a stepping stone for both our battalion and the ROK field artillery unit. It helps identify weaknesses so as we move forward toward the ROK-led coalition, both sides are familiar with joint operations."