Army Pfc. Kenneth Brooks, a drone operator with the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, flies a DJI Matrice drone during the Combined Resolve exercise on April 30, 2026. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
HOHENFELS, Germany — For more than a year, Pfc. Alexander Walker has taunted U.S. soldiers and NATO allies training on his unit’s home turf at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in southeastern Germany.
His latest challenge comes as part of Combined Resolve, an annual large-scale multinational exercise running through May 10. This iteration brings together more than 3,800 troops from across the Army and allied nations.
An infantryman, Walker is among a small group of drone operators in a recently established effects company working to keep rotational units on their toes.
Their group is in 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, the unit that serves as the installation’s Opposition Force.
The unit’s mission is to act like a real, thinking enemy, using tools such as drones and electronic warfare to find and target training units as they move or try to hide. That forces them to become less predictable.
“You already know where they’re likely going to be going, or which direction, or what point,” Walker said Thursday.
A soldier from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, secures a building in a simulated village during the Combined Resolve exercise on April 30, 2026. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
The unit’s familiarity with the terrain gives it an edge, helping operators like Walker anticipate where units will move or try to hide.
In a single day, Walker said he flew attack drones into several positions where rotational units were hiding, dropping simulated munitions on their locations. Of roughly 20 drops, he said he “destroyed” eight Bradley fighting vehicles and four Abrams tanks.
“The more pressure we can put on (these units) and the more effects that we can demonstrate, the more we change behavior,” Lt. Col. Michael Cryer, the unit’s commander, said Thursday.
Cryer said the volume of drones used against training units is intended to force them to rethink how they respond when they hear one approaching.
On the other side of the battlefield, soldiers with the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, out of Fort Hood, Texas, are taking the brunt of the attacks in stride — day and night.
The 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment serves as the opposition force at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, acting as the enemy to challenge the capabilities of rotational units training in Germany. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
“They’ve got a world-class opposition force on the other side of this fight,” said Col. Michael Ziegelhofer, the division’s commander.
The unit has fielded a mix of acoustic and radio frequency sensors to counter electronic attacks, along with nearly 600 drones of their own to take the fight to the opposing force.
“We’re on a deterrence mission, but also an assurance mission,” Ziegelhofer said. “So we’re here to deter any aggression, but also to assure our allies and partners … and we’re putting our lethality to the test.”
