Army Reserve gears up for the ‘Super Bowl’ of all exercises

The Army Reserve will hold its largest-ever exercise beginning in late May that will include 9,000 soldiers deployed across multiple states and locations coast-to-coast.

Operation Mojave Falcon, which the service has dubbed the Reserve’s “Super Bowl,” combines four exercises into a multi-faceted training event that will see soldiers working in concert between locations in California, New Jersey and North Carolina, according to a release.

The four exercises are Combat Support Training Exercise, National Training Center Global Medic, Quartermaster Liquid logistics Exercise and Nationwide Move.

The 79th Theater Sustainment Command serves as the senior trainer for Mojave Falcon, heavily partnered with the 91st Training Division at Fort Hunter Liggett and the 807th Theater Medical Command, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It will also feature several other one-star-led commands and supporting units.

The focus will be on large-scale operations in “tough, realistic training in a combat-like environment involving real-world missions and events,” according to the release.

“We’re continuing this momentum but really putting in practice so that we’re proving we can do LSCO and that’s the design behind this whole [exercise],” said Maj. Gen. Dianne Del Rosso, commanding general of the 79th Theater Sustainment Command, based at Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, California.

The bulk of the exercise will take place at Fort Hunter Liggett and Fort Irwin, both in California. Fort Irwin houses the National Training Center.

There, soldiers will work combat support and combat service support skills ranging from platform live fires to transporting supplies to warfighters.

Soldiers at other locations — Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, Fort Barfoot, Virginia; and Port of Long Beach, California — will also conduct coordinated exercises.

The exercise is designed to test soldiers on everything from simulated opposing forces and unmanned aircraft systems to digging in and operating at multiple austere locations.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for us to not only build combat readiness but also making sure that we’re doing that as a balanced Army with all our different components,” Del Rosso said.

Global Medic medical personnel will train in “austere medical environments focused on everything from treating casualties to medical evacuations, all while under extreme duress,” according to the release.

“Building combat-ready formations is high risk,” Del Rosso added. “It’s high reward and the camaraderie is worth it because you have trust in the person for your life, and that’s like no other job,”

Soldiers involved in the Quartermaster Liquid Logistics Exercise will transport and distribute bulk fuel and water at five locations spread across California’s West Coast, as well as the Midwest, areas on the East Coast and southern sections of the nation.

Troops at the Port of Long Beach will partner with Navy personnel for realistic training for roll-on, roll-off activities of cargo and equipment from a maritime vessel while under simulated enemy attack.

Under Nationwide Move soldiers will load containers and use M915 line-haul vehicles to deliver equipment and supplies from coast-to-coast to support the various training events. Some of this will involve convoy and railroad operations.

Across the operation soldiers will also test new mission command information systems integrating Joint Battle Command-Platform and Command Post Computing Environment to communicate during the event.