Paratroopers from 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment along with members of the 3rd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment Canadian Army seize Donnelly Drop Zone as part of a Joint Forcible Entry Operation during Exercise Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 22-02 on March 11, 2022. Photo Credit: Master Sailor Dan Bard Canadian Forces Combat Camera. DoD courtesy photo: The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
By: FEDweek StaffSoldiers will undergo more realistic training for operations in the Indo-Pacific theater, with the Army’s opening of a new training center. The Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) reported that the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center’s campuses in Hawaii and Alaska would facilitate joint-training exercises among soldiers, partner nations and allies – in light of the need to meet the ever-emerging threat to security posed by China.
The new center “allows us to generate readiness in the environments and conditions that we’re most likely to operate in,” said Gen. Charles Flynn, commander of U.S. Army Pacific. “It also gives us an opportunity to experiment here in Hawaii and Alaska in environments and conditions that are very different from training centers in the continental United States.”
The plan calls for three annual rotations, AUSA reported. One would take place in Hawaii, another in either the Donnelly or Yukon training areas in Alaska, and a third in a partner or allied country.
One such exercise, planned for 12 days, began Oct. 26 and involved 6,000 personnel. During the training, special operations forces from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines took part alongside their U.S. counterparts. It was intended to provide “the most realistic training environment short of combat,” Brig. Gen. Jeffrey VanAntwerp, deputy commander of operations with the 25th Infantry Division, told AUSA. The division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team played an active role during the event, which involved use of watercraft, challenges to communications, and fostering the multidomain task force.
Army leaders believe the center do more than provide useful locations for such training. The service also would save considerable money by not shipping troops to Fort Polk, Louisiana – a locale that looks nothing like the theater in which soldiers could someday be called upon to operate.
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