KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ft. Leavenworth is hosting the largest warfighter exercise in Army history. Soldiers arrived Wednesday at the KCI Expo Center.
Thousands of soldiers from around the country are in Kansas City, and it is history in the making.
“You take every opportunity to measure your performance and proficiency,” said Major Timothy Moreau, with the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
He and thousands of Army National Guard troops are there as part of a division warfighter exercise; the first of its kind.
“This particular exercise is the largest warfighter event in Army history based on the number of training audiences that are involved,” said Lt. Colonel Kelly Brown, the Mission Training Complex Leavenworth Battalion Commander.
The MTC hosts all the training units throughout their time there.
“My units will provide all the life support; the lodging, transportation, the housing, and we also provide the infrastructure for the exercise itself,” said Brown.
2,000 soldiers from all over the United States were getting paperwork done before the exercise begins Thursday at Ft. Leavenworth.
“We provide them with information and then they go off, and starting tomorrow they’ll participate in a training event,” Brown said.
One division and 10 brigades are all working together to evaluate where they stand as far as proficiency level.
“In this atmosphere, you want to be able to test your abilities in the training environment,” said Major Moreau.
“When you bring that many units together under one umbrella, there’s a lot of command and control and training that goes into that and so this is a real big success not only for the Army National Guard, but the Army at large,” Brown added.
Lt. Colonel Brown says every unit typically trains at its home station, but this exercise will help each soldier improve their skills so when they’re called, they’re ready to go.
“We train a lot with other organizations and other units, and so that way we can do our best no matter where the mission is or who we’re doing it with,” said Brown.
Brown says the many logistics that go into supporting this event are a big economy boost for the Kansas City area.
