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U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jack James (center), the commanding general of the New York National Guard’s 42nd Infantry Division, and other division staff, stand with their Swedish counterparts and state partners, including Swedish Army chief Maj. Gen. Jonny Lindfors, at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa., Nov. 21, 2024. The New York National Guard and Sweden entered into an official partnership as part of the National Guard’s State Partnership Program in July 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Harley Jelis, 42nd Inf. Div. public affairs)
(Photo Credit: Sgt. 1st Class Harley Jelis)
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Senior leaders from the New York National Guard’s 42nd Infantry Division provide their Swedish counterparts and state partners a tour of the division’s command post exercise operations at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa., Nov. 21, 2024. The Swedish military staff visited to observe operations during the 42nd ID’s CPX in preparation for Sweden’s participation in the 42nd ID’s upcoming Warfighter Exercise. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Harley Jelis, 42nd Inf. Div. public affairs)
(Photo Credit: Sgt. 1st Class Harley Jelis)
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U.S. Army Lt. Col. Elsa Canales, support operations officer for the 369th Sustainment Brigade, New York National Guard, speaks with members of the Swedish military as she gives them a tour of the 42nd Infantry Division’s command post exercise operations at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa., Nov. 21, 2024. The New York National Guard and Sweden entered into an official partnership as part of the National Guard’s State Partnership Program in July 2024, focusing on shared values and training to build relationships and capabilities for both military forces. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Harley Jelis, 42nd Inf. Div. public affairs)
(Photo Credit: Sgt. 1st Class Harley Jelis)
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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pennsylvania—Sweden’s top Army officer visited New York Army National Guard Soldiers from the 42nd Infantry Division conducting a command post exercise at Fort Indiantown Gap, from Nov. 17 to 20, 2024.
Major General Jonny Lindfors, Swedens Chief of Army, the equivalent to the U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff, led a delegation of officers to the Pennsylvania National Guard base, to observe a division headquarters in action.
The division headquarters Soldiers were preparing for their Warfighter exercise.
The New York National Guard and the Swedish military signed a State Partnership Program agreement in July, 2024. This was the first time the Swedes had visited one of the 42nd Infantry Division’s exercises.
“The immediate goals are to get a knowledge of our respective nations’ capabilities and what we are able to do together, and we have identified a number of objectives already,” Lindfors said.
“In a couple of weeks, we will have a number of officers and soldiers from the Guard coming over to Sweden to do basic arctic leader’s training. Then, in the new year, we will do some wet gap crossing and exercises together,” Lindfors added.
The state partnership between New York and Sweden focuses on shared values and training that will build relationships and improve capabilities for both military forces.
Lindfors said the New York National Guard’s operational and planning strengths, including river crossings, responding to chemical disasters, and border and customs control, are key areas that the two organizations will be working together to share knowledge and training.
“Your division is doing a lot of planning on the wet gap crossing and the operation part of it, what we are really good at is the really technical level of wet gap crossing, with running water, cold and icy conditions,” Lindfors said.
“We can merge (this) knowledge together. We’re bringing technical knowledge to the game as the 42nd Division will come with the operational knowledge of how to fit into a large-scale operation,” he said.
Maj. Gen. Jack A. James Jr., the commanding general of the 42nd Inf. Div., said he looks forward to the future opportunities to work with Sweden.
“With the situation in Europe, Sweden coming into NATO is very important and is critical to shoring up everyone’s collective security,” James said. “I truly believe in this as an enduring and fruitful partnership.”
As senior leaders showcased the division’s capabilities to their Swedish counterparts, the Soldiers of the 42nd Inf. Div., along with subordinate unit Soldiers from the 42nd Inf. Div. Artillery, the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the 369th Sustainment Brigade trained.
They trained 24 hours a day for nearly five days to hone their skills and prepare the division to tackle their next challenge, the Warfighter exercise.
A Warfighter is a simulated exercise designed to train and evaluate Army division-sized elements on mission command in large-scale combat operations.
The 42nd Inf. Div. Soldiers will conduct their Warfighter, alongside the 10th Mountain Division, in January as part of the division’s pre-mobilization training for their upcoming deployment to the Middle East in 2025.
“The Army has shifted focus to the ability to conduct (operations) against peer and near-peer threats,” James said. According to James, while the division is slated to be deployed to the Middle East, it must be ready to deploy anywhere in any regional combatant command.
“Warfighter is the premiere training event to operate in that environment,” James added. “It is our premiere training event, it is the Army’s premiere training event, and it is the hardest thing people will do. It will challenge people intellectually, mentally, and even physically.”
During the week-long exercise, forces and events were simulated in a notional environment as the commander and staff planned, coordinated, synchronized, and exercised command and control over operations during the mission.
The division and its subordinate brigades created six command posts spread across Fort Indiantown Gap to mimic the dispersal of forces in an operational environment.
Command Sgt. Maj. Arnold Reyes, the division’s senior enlisted leader, attributed the skill of the division’s Soldiers to the training they conducted in the year’s prior two command post exercises.
Those exercises, along with smaller internal training events, allowed the division’s troops to form bonds within their sections and across teams and companies, letting them begin CPX 3 with a solid foundation of teamwork.
“What makes this team truly impressive is the remarkable pool of talented individuals we have, alongside those who are eager to rise to their level,” Reyes explained.
“Throughout this CPX, we have faced a variety of challenges, and the way the team has responded has been nothing short of extraordinary. Their positive reactions to adversity highlight the uniqueness of this division and demonstrate how effectively we work together,” he said
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Publish date : 2024-11-27 09:03:00
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