FORT HOOD, Texas — The Chief of Staff of the Army made a trip to Fort Hood to get an update on an enormous multinational “Warfighter” training exercise they have been conducting all month.
A weeks-long exercise aimed at improving the readiness and lethality of large-scale combat operations that incorporates militaries from around the world.
”These are very complex operations,” said Gen. James C. McConville, chief of staff of the U.S. Army. “They take a lot of training to become masters at. That's why we have the best army in the world, because we train hard. The reason we are strong is because we train with our allies and partners, we work together, we’re unbeatable.”
It’s a sentiment shared by one of America’s greatest allies, the United Kingdom.
”The War Fighting Division needs to be tested,” said Maj. Gen. James Martin, commander of the 3rd United Kingdom Division. "It needs to be tested in a realistic war fighting scenario for large scale combat operations. This exercise is fundamental in validating us as a part of a U.S. led multi-national coalition force at the corps level.”
With at least 9 different countries participating, this unique training shows that the landscape of war had definitely changed.
”I think events since February 24 last year have shown that state on state conflict is still a very real possibility and a threat, as we see at the moment, that is destabilizing Europe,” said Maj. Gen. Martin.
The training isn’t just about being able to accomplish the mission, it’s about being able to work efficiently together to do it.
”In the U.K., we believe that we’re never going to go into a large scale, high intensity conflict again without allies or partners,” said Maj. Gen. Martin. “So, the idea that you wouldn't practice to make sure that you could work together most efficaciously, really shouldn't be on our mind at all.”
When asked about recently intelligence leaks hindering those goals, 4-star General and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, James C. McConville, says this exercise proves that it hasn’t made any significant impacts.
”We have very strong relationships with our allies and partners, and we work together all the time. We know that we are stronger together,” said Gen. McConville.
There are roughly 2,000 troops from 9 different countries participating the training exercise they are calling “Warfighter 23-4.”
