FORT RILEY, Kansas – The 35th Infantry Division conducted a joint command post exercise with the 1st Infantry Division at the Mission Training Center on Fort Riley from Aug. 9-23.
Key components of a successful training event include interoperability of the combat systems of the combat leadership function and training partners that help create an environment conducive to learning and developing as a team. The Army National Guard’s Mission Command Training Support Program and First Army observers assisted the 35th Infantry Division commander in leading the training.
MCTSP provides operational command training to units up to the division level. This training helps commanders meet operational command objectives through doctrinal content, training development, information systems operator training, and simulation-based exercises for personnel, communications, command post, and field training.
“(MCTSP) is a Guard Bureau program that provides training for the entire National Guard,” said Robert Marshall, MCTSP training partner and subject matter expert in fire, fire support planning and fire execution. “So it provides a set of skills that commanders can incorporate into their training.”
Marshall said one of the goals is for the 35th Infantry Division to conduct a CPX with another division headquarters.
This division-level CPX between two different components of the U.S. Army, or COMPO 1 and COMPO 2, is historic for the 35th Infantry Division.
The U.S. Army is comprised of three components: COMPO 1, the Regular Army; COMPO 2, the Army National Guard; and COMPO 3, the Army Reserve. Typically, the Army schedules training for divisions on a single rotation schedule. So this CPX is rare not only because two divisions are training together, but also because these two divisions are from different Army components and from the same state.
In addition to MTCSP, another training partner, 1st Army East, observed the CPX. Col. Reginald Williams, commander of 1st Army’s 177th Armored Brigade, observed the training during the MDMP process policy development meeting with 35th Infantry Division personnel.
“I was completely stunned…really blown away and impressed,” Williams said. “We’re talking about full Army and partnership training and conducting real-world missions. It was the first time in my Army career that I participated in a training event where two divisions supported each other in a CPX without it being dictated by Army Forces Command.”
The First Army Division East works with reserve units, advises and supports them to create the conditions for the Army to achieve full operational readiness.
“This CPX serves a dual purpose: It allows your staff to look over their shoulders in side-by-side training with the 1st Infantry Division to build a relationship and develop your own staff, and it’s an opportunity to test some of the systems that (the 35th Infantry Division) will use in your future CPXs,” Williams said. “At the end of this CPX, the most important thing the commander should do is know where his staff is. It should establish a baseline and establish an azimuth or glide path for the future.”
For two weeks, the 35th Infantry Division staff conducted military decision-making operations, including a joint weapons exercise with units of the 1st Infantry, and then conducted joint decisive operations from their command post using digital simulations.
As the 35th Infantry Division completes this training with the 1st Infantry Division, the staff will update tactical standard operating procedures based on lessons learned. The many partners, such as MCTSP and 1st Army, continue to help build state and federal readiness for a full Army force.
