Going The Extra 1,000 Miles

Preparing a field artillery brigade for a near-peer adversary

- Maj. Rich Farnell And Capt. Brennan Deveraux

The 17th Field Artillery Brigade drove over a combined 1,000 miles “total convoying” to and from the Orchard Combat Training Center, Idaho, in an attempt to go beyond their standard training regimen and build the unit’s confidence in vehicles, equipment and Soldier readiness in preparation for large-scale combat operations.

The brigade participates annually with our allies and partners abroad in major training events including Yama Sakura, Ulchi Freedom Guardian and Talisman Saber. These exercises challenge the brigade staffand rely heavily on the mission execution of simulated firing battalions. From these exercises, key training objectives are formed that allow firing elements at echelon to execute missions that were identified as vital in the scenario. Taking the lessons learned from the exercises, and progressing from the battery evaluations in February, the brigade looked to conduct the battalion evaluations in an environment that would test Fires in support of large-scale combat operations.

The OCTC mission not only certified the battalions, it offered unique challenges at all levels. The mission emphasized three areas that supported real world High Mobility Army Rocket System operations: long distance convoy operations, force-on-force operations in unfamiliar terrain, and livefire integration with a combat aviation brigade (CAB).

The convoy