SFC Jarred Woods, 3rd Infantry Division.
Soldiers with the 3rd Infantry Division’s 5/7 Cavalry Squadron tested their ability to rapidly deploy during a readiness training exercise, July 11-14, 2024.
Sgt. Jonathan Torres usually rises before the sun to workout with fellow Soldiers during physical training but cloaked in darkness in the early morning of July 11, his training was anything but routine as he packed up his ruck sack and loaded his Bradley Fighting Vehicle onto a C-17A Globemaster III.
Torres is part of the division’s Immediate Response Package, a scalable and tailorable combat-ready response force which is trained to deploy on short or no notice anywhere in the world. This readiness exercise is something the squadron, and Torres, have been training for since early spring this year.
“The purpose behind this training is to make sure we can deploy at a moment’s notice to be able to help our allies,” said Sgt. Jonathon Torres, a team leader with 5/7 Cavalry. “My soldiers get to see and learn how a rapid response package works, functions and how working with other branches works.”
Soldiers were alerted for the deployment exercise July 8 and the squadron got to work preparing their vehicles, equipment, and soldiers. Tracked and wheeled armored vehicles were then loaded onto C-17s along with gear and crew highlighting the division’s contribution to the XVIII Airborne Corps’ overall strategic deterrence and power projection mission.
“We learned to be ready to rapidly deploy whenever the time comes, said Spc. Stephen Harris,” assigned to 5/7 Cavalry. “The entire purpose of this package is to have the ability to deploy anywhere in the world within a 96-hour timeframe of being activated to reinforce, defend and do whatever the mission may call for.”
From there, the planes departed from Hunter Army Airfield to Bicycle Lake in Fort Irwin, California where the IRP immediately transitioned to a tactical mission and ultimately join the rest of their brigade for their unit validation rotation at the National Training Center.
These types of advanced training scenarios help organizations identify personnel and equipment needed to quickly deploy assets into a theater and refine those processes to make it efficient.
The 5/7 Cavalry is part of the same brigade, the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, that rapidly deployed to Europe in 2022 to deter aggression in the region and build interoperability with NATO allies and partners. That deployment was a reminder for the division how critical training like this is to be ready to deploy with little notice.
The successful IRP training by 5/7 Cavalry underscores their dedication to readiness and the division’s ability to provide the XVIII Airborne Corps with mechanized capability ready for global employment.