Idaho Guard prepares for month-long exercise
The Idaho Army National Guard’s 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (CBCT) will deploy for a 29-day training exercise May 24 through June 21 at the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California.
The NTC is one of the Army’s largest combat training centers. In addition to the 116th, the exercise will also include units from eight other states and Puerto Rico, along with four U.S. Army Reserve units.
The Idaho CBCT is comprised of nearly 3,700 soldiers, including 2,000 from 137 Idaho communities and 1,700 from battalions in the Montana, Nevada, and Oregon Army National Guards. The Idaho Air National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing will also participate, providing close air support using A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft during the simulated combat operations.
“The National Training Center offers the most realistic training the Army has to offer,” said 116th CBCT commander Col. Scott Sheridan. “This exercise gives us the opportunity to execute our warfighting functions in a way we can’t anywhere else. 116th CBCT Soldiers have trained extensively over the past four years and are ready to demonstrate their tactical and technical proficiencies in an austere environment.”
The 116th CBCT last attended the NTC in 2015. It is the final rotation in the brigade’s four-year training cycle before the unit is available for a real-world mission in 2020.
