V Corps heads to northern Poland
for helicopter training exercises
By Rick Scavetta,
Stars and Stripes
More than 4,000 V Corps troops head to northern Poland this week for Victory Strike II,
an enormous exercise that combines a deep strike helicopter attack with international
partnerships.
For the first time, V Corps will operate from its "Strike CP," a new mobile
command post that will direct both Army and Air Force aviators through a simulated attack
on anti-aircraft targets behind enemy lines.
The deployment is the largest movement of troops in Europe since Sept. 11, when
terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. While a possible U.S.
retaliation could resemble a deep strike operation, Victory Strike II cannot be considered
anything but another chance for troops to train, V Corps commander Lt. Gen. William
Wallace said.
"We’re validating our ability to deploy rapidly, but to make a connection
with that and future operations is pure speculation," Wallace said.
Prior to last week’s terrorist attacks, Army Secretary Thomas White visited V
Corps and got a taste for the new command post. White discussed possible force structure
reductions, to include streamlining major commands such as V Corps headquarters.
While a U.S. war on terrorism has no doubt sidelined that idea, V Corps must still
prove that its slimmed down command post can move out quickly.
In the past, a corps command post was "the size of downtown Heidelberg,"
Wallace said.
"It was a huge conglomeration of expando-vans joined together with walkways and
covered with camouflage nets," Wallace said.
In previous deployments, V Corps relied on Air Force assets from outside the theater
such as C-17s and C-5s to deploy the headquarters. Now, V Corps can ship out a tent-based
command center inside 30 smaller aircraft, such as C-130s from U.S. Air Forces Europe.
In addition to speedy deployment, V Corps’ new command post breaks down
traditional barriers between a commander and his staff, Wallace said.
He likened the post to the bridge of Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise, where a
staff watches the same screens and provides immediate input to make rapid decisions. Quick
decisions allow a commander to take greater risks for greater gains on the battlefield,
Wallace said.
"It’s like playing a chess game and you get two moves and the other guy only
gets one," Wallace said. "That’s pretty cool."
Mostly, Victory Strike II creates realistic training for attack aviation. For the AH-64
Apache crews, the exercise is the air equivalent of ground maneuvers in Hohenfels,
Germany, Wallace said.
Following the well-publicized struggles of Army helicopters during U.S. strikes in the
former Yugoslavia, Army officials recognized Apache crews needed realistic deep-strike
training.
"That was not in anyone’s kit-bag prior to Kosovo," Wallace said.
Two Apache units — the 2nd Squadron, 6th Regiment, 11th Attack Helicopter
Regiment, based in Illesheim, and the 1st Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, of the 1st
Infantry Division, based in Katterbach — make up the strike force.
Beginning Monday, the two units deploy some of their assets to Poland, while Air Force
C-17s from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., airlift the rest.
"That’s an exercise enhancer," V Corps spokeswoman Ali Bettancourt said.
"It’s good training for us and them. We’re trying to build the Air Force
cooperation."
Four U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons are set to fly eight sorties from Aviano Air
Base, Italy. Pilots will simulate close air support during the Apache’s
force-on-force exercise.
Waiting for them on the ground will be an opposing force of U.S. and Polish air defense
forces. Italian and British troops also are scheduled to participate.
This is the first mission for the Apaches since the Army grounded the helicopters in
July for tail rotor inspections.
"Any Apache affected received new tail rotor blades and it’s not affecting
the exercise," Bettancourt said.
On Oct. 11, the exercise culminates with both Apaches and field artillery units firing
live ammunition. While combat units train, V Corps engineer units will repair two Polish
schools near the training areas, another step in strengthening ties with one of
NATO’s newest members.
Since the end of the Cold War, Partnership for Peace training and Balkan deployments
have brought the two armies closer. Last October, Army troops trained during Victory
Strike with the Polish military.
This year, the exercise expands from the Drawsko Pomorskie training area, where U.S.
troops trained last year, to the Wedrzyn training area near Sulecin, Poland.
RELATED STORY:
Recent events
inject a dose of reality into scheduled deployment
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