The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-twenty-second episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by MAJ Marc Howle, the Brigade Senior Engineer / Protection Observer-Coach-Trainer, and MAJ David Pfaltzgraff, BDE XO OCT (formerly the BDE S-3 Operations OCT), from Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ) on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are senior non-commissioned officers of JRTC: MSG Jared Cawthon, MSG Randell Conway, and SFC Corey Rinn. MSG Cawthon is the BDE Fires Support NCOIC and MSG Conway is the BDE Intelligence NCOIC OCT in Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ). SFC Rinn is the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Senior OCT for TF-5 (BDE Engineer BN).   This episode focuses on leadership through the deliberate and effective utilization of Noncommissioned Officers at echelon, emphasizing that success in LSCO is fundamentally leader business, not officer business versus NCO business. A central theme is the NCO’s role in identifying and mitigating friction before it manifests in execution. Drawing on repeated JRTC observations, the discussion highlights how experienced NCOs sharpen plans through rehearsals, checklists, and anticipation of second- and third-order effects—time, distance, sustainment, displacement, and execution risk—that are often missed in rushed or staff-centric planning. When NCOs are fully integrated into MDMP, mission analysis, COA development, and rehearsals, staffs are more synchronized, plans are more executable, and formations adapt faster once friction is encountered.    The episode also addresses persistent gaps in how formations employ NCOs, particularly on staffs. Too often, senior NCOs are relegated to security or administrative tasks instead of being empowered contributors to planning, targeting, and cross–warfighting function integration. The panel underscores disciplined initiative, delegation of authority, and clear roles and responsibilities as decisive leadership practices that unlock NCO potential. Effective formations deliberately train NCOs to operate confidently in planning environments, leverage their experience to challenge assumptions, and serve as connective tissue between operations, intelligence, fires, sustainment, and protection. The consistent takeaway is clear: units that empower NCOs as planners, synchronizers, and leaders—not just executors—operate with less friction, greater cohesion, and higher combat effectiveness in the hardest fights.    Part of S13 “Hip Pocket Training” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-twenty-first episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience’. Hosted by COL Ricky Taylor, the Commander of Ops Group (COG).   Established during the fierce fighting in the Italian campaigns of World War II, 1/82 was employed in multiple brush wars throughout the Cold War as well as in Operation Desert Storm and later as part of Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo before deploying in support of the Global War on Terror. They have the Hollywood call-sign of “Devil” and the motto of “Strike and Hold.”   This episode brings together commanders from across an Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) to examine JRTC trends and best practices for preparing units for their hardest days of ground combat in LSCO across multiple domains. A recurring theme is the reality of operating under extreme friction, speed, and uncertainty, where units must fight the enemy—not the plan—while managing constrained planning timelines, high operational tempo, and limited resources. Commanders discuss how early phases of the fight, particularly airborne or austere insertions, expose weaknesses in logistics distribution, predictive sustainment, and mobility, often culminating units faster than anticipated. The panel reinforces that many perceived “logistics problems” are actually distribution and prioritization problems, solvable through disciplined LOGSTATs, predictive analysis, and deliberate LOGSYNC forums that align brigade priorities with battalion-level realities.     Across echelons, leaders emphasize that success in LSCO depends on shared understanding and commander-driven dialogue, not perfect plans. Best practices highlighted include battlefield circulation to validate task and purpose, frequent commander-to-commander and commander-to-staff engagements, and clear articulation of risk to force, risk to mission, and opportunity gained. The discussion underscores persistent challenges in synchronizing fires, maneuver, and sustainment when staffs fall behind the fight, communications degrade, or units outrun their own situational awareness. Survivability and lethality on a transparent battlefield require formations to stay light, manage signatures, rehearse displacement, and ensure every Soldier—not just designated specialists—can employ critical systems like anti-armor weapons. Collectively, the panel reinforces a core JRTC lesson: disciplined fundamentals, predictive logistics, honest risk dialogue, and empowered leaders at echelon are what enable IBCTs to endure, adapt, and win during the opening battles of LSCO.     Part of S02 “If I Would Have Only Known” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-twentieth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience’ and the fifth* annual Large Scale Combat Operations Symposium. Hosted by COL Ricky Taylor, the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are all seasoned observer-coach-trainers (OCTs) from across Operations Group, LTC Amoreena “Ammo” York, MAJ David Pfaltzgraff, MAJ Marc Howle, MAJ Amy Beatty, MAJ Jeff Horn, CSM Frank Enriquez, SGM Matthew Bollinger, and MSG Lacey Remillard as well as CW3 Roy Sandoval from the US Army Special Operations Command’s Special Operations Training Detachment. Opening remarks were provided by GEN David Hodnes (Available only live via Teams), the Commanding General of Transformation and Training Command (T2COM) and BG Jason Curl, the Commanding General of the Joint Readiness Training Center. Our panel members are observer-coach-trainers with numerous decisive action training environment rotations between them. LTC York is the Task Force Senior for the TF Aviation (CAB / ATF). MAJ Pfaltzgraff is the BDE S-3 Operations OCT and MAJ Howle is the Protection OCT for Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ). MAJ Beatty is the Executive Officer OCT and MSG Remillard is the S-3 Operations Sergeant Major OCT for Task Force Sustainment (BSB/DSSB). MAJ Horn is the Executive Officer OCT for the Fires Support Task Force. CSM Enriquez is the Command Sergeant Major OCT for Live Fires Division. SGM Bollinger is the Senior Enlisted S-2 Intelligence Advisor for the Intelligence Warfighting Function. CW3 Sandoval is the Rotational Planner for USASOC’s Special Operations Training Detachment.   The purpose of the ‘LSCO Symposium’ is to advance conversation on warfighting and share observations and lessons learned. We will discuss large scale violence today, but this discussion transcends mission sets. Train for high end competition and scale down as required. This episode synthesizes JRTC trends and best practices for preparing units for their hardest days of ground combat in Large-Scale Combat Operations across multiple domains. A central theme is that continuous transformation must be anchored to disciplined fundamentals. Leaders repeatedly emphasize that emerging capabilities—UAS, ITN, AI-enabled targeting tools, precision fires, and advanced sustainment systems—amplify poor discipline as much as they amplify competence. Units struggle when they trade foundational skills for technology, compress training timelines, or assume proficiency in basics like MDMP rigor, rehearsals, reporting, security, and sustainment forecasting. The discussion reinforces that formations are not failing because of a lack of tools, but because of gaps in training management, insufficient repetitions at home station, and an erosion of shared doctrinal language that enables synchronization under stress.    The episode also highlights how LSCO success depends on integration across warfighting functions over time, not single moments of convergence. Best-performing units demonstrate disciplined commander–staff and commander–commander dialogue, deliberate risk articulation, and active NCO involvement throughout planning and execution. Persistent challenges include rushed or truncated MDMP, weak course-of-action analysis, fragmented IPO/SPO processes, and poor sustainment visibility that leads to overstocking, vulnerable cache sites, and exposed logistics nodes. Survivability on a transparent battlefield emerges as a recurring lesson: units must balance dispersion with functionality, manage electromagnetic signatures, rehearse degraded communications, protect sustainment forces, and treat rear areas as contested terrain. Taken together, the episode underscores a clear JRTC message—winning the first battles of LSCO requires disciplined fundamentals, rigorous planning, and relentless rehearsal long before units ever make contact.  If you’d like to read along, you can visit our LinkTree account and

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-nineteenth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by COL Ricky Taylor, the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guest is the Commanding General for the fabled 82nd Airborne Division, MG Brandon Tegtmeier, All American 06. The 82nd Airborne Division specializes in joint forcible entry operations via vertical envelopment, both airborne and air assault, into denied areas with a U.S. Department of Defense requirement to respond to crisis contingencies anywhere in the world within 18 hours. They have the Hollywood call-sign of “All American” Division and the motto of “In Air, On Land.”   This episode explores trends and best practices observed through the lens of an airborne division preparing for large-scale combat operations, with a consistent emphasis on fundamentals, training management, and condition setting at echelon. The discussion reinforces that success at division level is anchored in company-level and below proficiency, arguing that brigades and divisions can adapt rapidly during a CTC rotation, but deficiencies in small-unit fundamentals cannot be fixed once in contact. A recurring theme is the deliberate decompression of training—allowing platoons, companies, and battalions sufficient time to learn, rehearse, and apply lessons rather than rushing through compressed events. This approach enables leaders to internalize battle drills, reduce cognitive load under stress, and fight effectively in JRTC’s “friction factory,” where units are tested under sustained pressure, casualties, logistics shortfalls, and enemy contact.    From an operational perspective, the episode highlights how airborne formations must think differently about setting conditions across the fight, integrating intelligence, fires, sustainment, protection, and deception over time rather than relying on single convergence moments. Key topics include commander-driven MDMP, disciplined risk dialogue between commanders and staffs, and the necessity of clearly articulating information requirements to higher headquarters when organic collection assets are limited. The conversation also addresses emerging best practices such as protecting long-range fires, using maneuver forces to enable deep effects, embracing deception and EMCON to survive on a transparent battlefield, and offloading risk to robotics and UAS through formations like the MFRC. Sustainment realities for light forces—especially water and ammunition management following airborne or austere insertions—are repeatedly emphasized as decisive factors. Taken together, the episode presents a clear message: airborne divisions win by mastering fundamentals, deliberately preparing leaders at every echelon, and synchronizing effects over time to preserve combat power and maintain momentum in LSCO.    Part of S01 “The Leader’s Laboratory” series.   Don’t forget to check-out XVIII Airborne Corps’ social media pages, their handles are ‘82ndAirborneDivision’ on Facebook, ‘82ndABNDiv’ on X, and ‘82ndairbornediv’ on Instagram.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast.   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-eighteenth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by the Senior Enlisted Medical Advisor and Role II Observer-Coach-Trainer for the Task Force Sustainment (BSB / CSSB), MSG Timothy Sargent on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are all combat medicine professionals across the JRTC. SFC William Deutsch is the Senior Medical OCT with TF-3 (IN BN), SFC Robert Schimmelpfenneg is the Medical Advisor and Role II OCT with TF Sustainment (BSB / CSSB), and SFC Anthony Norris is the Senior Medical OCT with Live Fire Division.   This episode dives deep into combat medicine at the tactical small-unit level, focusing on what 68W medics truly face in a large-scale combat operations environment. The discussion highlights how today’s medics arrive from Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training with significantly more clinical capability: whole blood transfusions, chest tubes, finger thoracotomies, FAST exams, etc. Yet often lose proficiency once they reach their units due to lack of repetitions, limited clinical exposure, and competing taskings like motor-pool duties and gate guard. The panel emphasizes the widening gap between what new medics learn in the schoolhouse and what line units actually reinforce day to day. Just as importantly, the episode stresses that modern LSCO demands a return to mastery of basics: triage under mass-casualty conditions, reassessments, deliberate casualty collection point (CCP) management, documentation, and base-level soldier tasks such as security, dispersion, movement, and survivability. We routinely observe high-casualties at JRTC, often 60–80 casualties at once and hundreds per rotation. Poor triage and poor soldier-skill fundamentals, not lack of “sexy medicine,” are the leading causes of died-of-wounds outcomes.    The episode also examines how units can better sustain medical readiness during home-station training. Leaders discuss integrating medics into ER rotations, EMS ride-alongs, sick-call operations, and realistic trauma/medical lanes that reinforce both prolonged field care and everyday DMBI cases. They argue that NCOs must reclaim ownership of training through proper DTMS programming, use of existing doctrinal resources, and deliberate linkage to mission-essential tasks. The conversation closes on three high-value priorities for the future fight: deliberate triage, accurate/documented patient care, and competent CCP & CASEVAC execution—all grounded in disciplined soldiering, not just advanced interventions. Ultimately, the episode makes clear that on the LSCO battlefield, combat medics must be clinicians, communicators, and soldiers, capable of saving lives while enabling commanders to maintain combat power forward.    Part of S05 “Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids, Batteries, Water, & Fuel” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-seventeenth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by MAJ Marc Howle, the Brigade Senior Engineer / Protection Observer-Coach-Trainer, and MAJ David Pfaltzgraff, BDE S-3 Operations OCT, from Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ) on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are senior members of JRTC’s fires support enterprise: MAJ Jeff Horn, MSG Esteban Melendez, and SFC Larry Gillispie, Jr. MAJ Horn is the Executive Officer OCT for the Fires Support Task Force. MSG Melendez is the Battery Senior NCO OCT and SFC Gillispie is the Fires Direction Center Senior OCT for the Fires Support TF.   This episode centers on the critical role of indirect fires in enabling brigade and battalion maneuver during large-scale combat operations (LSCO). Discussion emphasized how modern battlefields—defined by continuous observation, rapid enemy counterfire, and contested electromagnetic terrain—demand faster, simpler, and more integrated fires processes. The episode explored the necessity of marrying intelligence, targeting, and maneuver to generate timely and accurate effects, noting that units frequently struggle with building effective EVENTEMPs, aligning priority intelligence requirements with high-payoff target lists, and ensuring fire support elements understand the commander’s visualization. Indirect fires are no longer a supporting arm that can be “plugged in” at the end of planning; instead, fires must lead maneuver, set conditions, disrupt enemy reconnaissance, and shape the tempo of operations. Units that succeeded at JRTC did so by developing disciplined fires rehearsals, maintaining digital pathways for observers and FSEs, and employing simple, survivable fire support plans that could be executed under degraded conditions.    The episode also examined common shortfalls in fire support execution and provided practical solutions rooted in LSCO best practices. Many units struggled to connect sensors to shooters, often due to poor task organization, inconsistent digital connectivity, or a lack of rehearsed triggers and decision points. The conversation stressed that fires must be integrated early, beginning at WARNO 1, so that reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, and targeting all feed a coherent fires architecture. Leaders must enforce conditions that enable fires in contact: dispersed artillery positions, rapid survivability moves, redundant communications, and timely, accurate reporting. Best practices discussed included using decoys to force enemy action, leveraging sUAS for battle damage assessment and real-time refinement, simplifying TLWS/TTLODAC products, and conducting thorough fires technical rehearsals. Ultimately, the episode reinforced that mastery of indirect fires is inseparable from mastery of LSCO itself—units that can sense, decide, and deliver effects faster than the enemy preserve freedom of maneuver and dominate the fight.   Part of S13 “Hip Pocket Training” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-sixteenth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by the Senior Medical Operations Officer Observer-Coach-Trainer for the Task Force Sustainment (BSB / CSSB), CPT Victor Velez on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guest is CPT Christina Pierce, the Officer-in-Charge, Joint Aid Station-Rear (JAS-R) attached to Bayne Jones Army Community Hospital on Fort Polk, LA.   This episode of The Crucible podcast focuses on the coordination and integration of medical operations from Role I through Role 2+, with particular emphasis on the Joint Aid Station-Rear (JAS-R) at the JRTC. The discussion outlines how units often underestimate the staffing, equipment, and Class VIII requirements needed to effectively run a JAS-R. Leaders are reminded that the JAS-R is designed to function as a Role I facility with limited expansion, and its true effectiveness is shaped by what the unit brings—particularly providers, medics, and a robust Class VIII package. A bare minimum staffing model (one provider and 12 medics split across shifts) is described as unsustainable, with best practices suggesting multiple providers and additional medics to manage patient flow, casualty movement, and external appointments. The podcast highlights how equipment such as exam tables, AEDs, suction systems, and crash carts are available in the facility, but units must stock and maintain them.   The conversation further emphasizes coordination with JRTC JAS-R staff and Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital (BJACH) at Ft. Polk to ensure proper credentialing, MHS Genesis access, and Class VIII ordering prior to arrival. Units are cautioned against arriving with inadequate supplies or relying solely on CTC funds allocation for replenishment, which is intended for sustainment, not initial stocking. Critical points include managing referrals to BJACH and local civilian hospitals, establishing transportation plans for follow-up care, and ensuring effective communication between providers, medics, and the white cell for accountability and patient tracking. The episode stresses that medical planning is not just a surgeon’s responsibility but a command responsibility, and leaders must treat the JAS-R as a training opportunity and readiness rehearsal for the demands of LSCO.   Part of S05 “Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids, Batteries, Water, & Fuel” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-fifteenth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by MAJ Marc Howle, the Brigade Senior Engineer / Protection Observer-Coach-Trainer, and MAJ David Pfaltzgraff, BDE S-3 Operations OCT, from Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ) on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are two senior members of JRTC that most units coordinate with but rarely see in-person: MAJ Jacquelin Marrero and MAJ Brandon Kilthau. MAJ Marrero is the G-4 Sustainment Officer at the Joint Readiness Training Center’s headquarters. MAJ Kilthau is the S-3 Operations Officer for Plans / Exercise Maneuver Control. Plans/EMC plan, resource, and supervise the rotations from start to finish. (Think of the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz.)   This episode focuses on the often-overlooked but decisive phase of reception, staging, onward movement, and integration (RSOI) at JRTC. The discussion highlights recurring friction points as units arrive in Torbia—ranging from poor Soldier discipline and lack of acclimatization to the Louisiana heat, to wasted time at staging areas instead of conducting pre-combat checks (PCCs), pre-combat inspections (PCIs), and final system checks. The key message is mindset: leaders and Soldiers must treat RSOI as the beginning of combat, not downtime before the “real” fight. Units that operationalize RSOI—using the time to validate communications, establish sustainment accounts, rehearse movement, and begin integrating attachments—set the conditions for success. Those that view it as a last break or administrative hurdle often find themselves behind before entering the box.   The conversation also underscores the importance of coordination with the JRTC G4 to ensure prepositioned (“pre-po”) equipment is properly drawn, maintained, and matched to operational requirements. Many units fail to establish essential accounts for Class I, III, IV, V, and VIII supplies until arrival, creating preventable shortfalls. Best practices include using RSOI to rehearse convoy movements, validate communications architecture with available support, and build relationships with enablers or foreign attachments before moving to the training area. Leaders are encouraged to deliberately involve NCOs in these processes to extend command oversight, enforce discipline, and maximize use of time. Ultimately, the episode frames RSOI as more than an administrative requirement: it is the first tactical problem of the rotation, and units that succeed here carry momentum into the fight.   Part of S13 “Hip Pocket Training” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-fourteenth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by MAJ Marc Howle, the Brigade Senior Engineer / Protection Observer-Coach-Trainer, and MAJ David Pfaltzgraff, BDE S-3 Operations OCT, from Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ) on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are two senior sustainers within JRTC: MAJ Amy Beatty, the Task Force Executive Officer from Task Force Sustainment (Combat Sustainment Support Battalion / Brigade Support Battalion) and MAJ Adeniran Dairo, the BDE S-4 Sustainment Observer-Coach-Trainer from Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ).   This episode on logistics and sustainment in LSCO highlights the recurring friction points’ units face when bringing their formations to JRTC. One of the central themes is the lack of clearly defined roles and responsibilities between the brigade S4 and the SPO. While the S4 is doctrinally responsible for sustainment planning and the SPO for executing those plans, experience gaps, personality differences, and poor coordination often blur the lines. This creates confusion over who produces critical products, such as the sustainment paragraph of the OPORD or synchronization matrices, leading to missed opportunities in planning and execution. The discussion stresses the need for deliberate conversations between S4s and SPOs—ideally starting at home station—to clarify duties, build trust, and ensure planning outputs are synchronized with maneuver requirements.   The conversation also emphasizes the importance of running estimates and the broader framework of the “5 Ls of Logistics”: LOGSTATs, LOGSYNC matrices, LOGSYNC meetings, LOGCOP, and LOGPACs. Too often, junior officers and commodity managers fail to update their estimates as operations progress, leading to mismatched forecasts, overestimations, or shortfalls that erode trust between maneuver and sustainment elements. This disconnect compounds when formations apply blanket percentage increases at each echelon, inflating requirements far beyond reality. Solutions discussed include dual reporting between FSCs and BSBs to balance individual consumption data against bulk stocks, prioritizing survivability over efficiency in sustainment operations, and treating the transition from bulk to individual commodity distribution as a battle drill rehearsed at home station. Ultimately, survivability, trust, and disciplined sustainment practices are framed as decisive factors in ensuring brigades can fight and endure in LSCO.   Part of S13 “Hip Pocket Training” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-thirteenth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by MAJ Marc Howle, the Brigade Senior Engineer / Protection Observer-Coach-Trainer, and MAJ David Pfaltzgraff, BDE S-3 Operations OCT, from Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ) on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are LTC Amoreena “Ammo” York, the Task Force Senior from Aviation Task Force and SSG Nikolas Pappas, the AVN Maintenance Tech Platoon Sergeant from the Aviation Task Force.   This episode of The Crucible podcast delves into the complex realities of sustaining Army rotary-wing aviation units during large-scale combat operations (LSCO). With an emphasis on enabler operations, the discussion highlights three primary friction points aviation units routinely encounter at JRTC: time management in MDMP across multiple simultaneous mission sets, underutilization of NCO expertise in planning and rehearsals, and the technical and doctrinal challenges of Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARPs). The speakers emphasize that unlike home-station exercises with limited mission scope, JRTC rotations demand that aviation units execute deep attacks, displacements, and air assaults while simultaneously managing logistics and force protection—often without enough time or capacity to rehearse. A key takeaway is the criticality of aggressive MDMP timelines and the use of the “SHOPE” timeline—placing sustainment as the first priority to ensure aviation success.   Further, the episode underscores the need to integrate aviation planning with brigade-level operations, particularly when coordinating terrain management, graphic control measures, and airspace deconfliction. Successful units are those that involve mid-grade NCOs early, especially those with realistic insights into timelines and requirements for tasks like establishing a survivable FARP. The conversation also exposes a widespread lack of familiarity with aviation-specific requirements among brigade and division staff, particularly in managing shared airspace and synchronizing fires and SUAS activity. Finally, the hosts point out that survivable FARPs require camouflage, rapid setup and teardown, and minimal electromagnetic signatures—making blackout comms and distributed rehearsals essential. The episode concludes with a challenge to division-level leaders to solve the enduring problem of rotary-wing sustainment in LSCO through rapid, integrated air logistics—bypassing hours-long convoys and empowering CABs to bridge the final tactical mile.   Part of S13 “Hip Pocket Training” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-twelfth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by the Senior Medical Operations Officer Observer-Coach-Trainer for the Task Force Sustainment (BSB / CSSB), CPT Victor Velez on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are subject matter experts in each of their warfighting fields, MAJ Jon Austin, SFC Scott Gallagher, 1LT Andy Cornelison, and LTC Max Ferguson. MAJ Austin is an armor officer from the Close Combat Lethality Task Force at the Maneuver Center of Excellence. SFC Gallagher is the former senior medic for 2-14 IN BN and is currently the Senior Enlisted Medical Advisor OCT for TF Sustainment (BSB / CSSB). 1LT Cornelson is a former Army Special Forces medic and is now the Physician’s Assistant for 2-14 Infantry BN, “Golden Dragons” of 2nd IBCT, 10th Mountain Division. LTC Max Ferguson is the former BN Commander for 2-14 IN BN and is now the G-3 Operations Officer for 10th Mountain DIV as well as serving as the J-3 for the JTF Southern Border.   The 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, known by its Hollywood call-sign “Commando Brigade”, is a light infantry unit headquartered at Fort Drum, New York. Carrying the proud motto “Courage and Honor,” the brigade traces its lineage to the 10th Mountain Division’s storied World War II legacy in the mountains of Italy, where it earned distinction for its rugged combat effectiveness in extreme terrain. Reactivated in the post-Vietnam era, 2nd IBCT has since deployed multiple times in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, exemplifying rapid deployment capability, adaptability, and lethality. Today, the Commando Brigade remains a cornerstone of the Army’s light infantry force, specializing in mountain and cold-weather operations while preparing for large scale combat operations across multiple domains.   The “golden hour” concept from the Global War on Terror era is being expanded in LSCO to account for prolonged casualty care under contested evacuation timelines. Whole blood and walking blood banks extend treatment coverage, creating larger windows for evacuation to the next level of care. While long practiced within Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF), this marks the first employment of the concept by a conventional unit in recent history.   In this episode of The Crucible podcast, the panel continues its in-depth discussion on prolonged casualty care (PCC) in large-scale combat operations (LSCO), building on themes introduced in part one. A key focus is on how modern units—especially those operating in austere, isolated, or logistically constrained environments—must adapt to provide lifesaving care when evacuation within the “Golden Hour” is not possible. From operations in Syria and the U.S. southern border to anticipated LSCO scenarios, the conversation highlights the reality that prolonged field care (PFC) is not a future problem—it’s a current operational requirement. We unpack the complexity of holding casualties for hours (or days), examining scenarios where role 1 and 2 facilities become primary treatment centers in the absence of immediate access to surgical capabilities.   The conversation also addresses the practical responsibilities of leaders—both medical and maneuver—in creating the conditions for success. Topics include the importance of tourniquet conversion training, integrating whole-blood programs, designing low-signature CASEVAC platforms, and standardizing tactical combat casualty care (TC3) across formations. Leaders emphasize the need to build experiential knowledge in junior medics through trauma center exposure, paramedic fellowships, and realistic simulation labs. The gap in trauma experience across the force—especially among junior NCOs and medics—is framed as a critical training challenge, compounded by outdated equipment and inconsistent SOPs. The episode concludes with a call to prioritize

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-eleventh episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by MAJ Marc Howle, the Brigade Senior Engineer / Protection Observer-Coach-Trainer, and MAJ David Pfaltzgraff, BDE S-3 Operations OCT, from Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ) on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are MAJ Steven Yates, the BDE S-6 Signal OCT from Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ) and SFC Daniel Pippin, the BN S-6 Signal NCOIC from the 1-509th IN (ABN) Opposing Force.   This episode of The Crucible centers on the challenges of command and control (C2) integration and the employment of enablers within brigade combat teams (BCTs) at JRTC. The discussion highlights recurring issues with overcomplicated signal plans, inadequate COMSEC readiness, and a persistent lack of basic communications skills across maneuver formations. Despite widespread fielding of advanced systems like ITN, many units arrive without validated PACE plans or shared understanding of how to communicate across formations and enabler teams. A key friction point is the failure to execute realistic COMEX and VALEX rehearsals, which often leads to failure in establishing a functioning network prior to movement into the box. When soldiers can’t log into CPCE or MAVEN or don’t know how to employ SATCOM or FM, the entire C2 enterprise falters before first contact.   The episode also stresses the importance of simplifying communications, cross-training non-signal personnel, and involving maneuver leaders in signal planning. A lack of distributed competence creates overreliance on limited 25-series personnel. The team praises aviation’s model of integrating comms training into pilot academics and encourages similar investments at the BCT level—where every Soldier using a radio must understand its function and limitations. Integration of enablers—particularly aviation, foreign partners, and multi-echelon elements like MEC teams—demands proactive coordination well before RSOI. The key takeaway: units that treat RSOI as part of the operations process, not just an administrative requirement, set the conditions for success. C2 must be validated with full mission threads—sensor-to-shooter, PED, and digital fires—before rolling into the box. Anything less risks operational paralysis in the first 48 hours.   Part of S13 “Hip Pocket Training” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-tenth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by the Senior Medical Operations Officer Observer-Coach-Trainer for the Task Force Sustainment (BSB / CSSB), CPT Victor Velez on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are subject matter experts in each of their warfighting fields, MAJ Jon Austin, SFC Scott Gallagher, 1LT Andy Cornelison, and LTC Max Ferguson. MAJ Austin is an armor officer from the Close Combat Lethality Task Force at the Maneuver Center of Excellence. SFC Gallagher is the former senior medic for 2-14 IN BN and is currently the Senior Enlisted Medical Advisor OCT for TF Sustainment (BSB / CSSB). 1LT Cornelson is a former Army Special Forces medic and is now the Physician’s Assistant for 2-14 Infantry BN, “Golden Dragons” of 2nd IBCT, 10th Mountain Division. LTC Max Ferguson is the former BN Commander for 2-14 IN BN and is now the G-3 Operations Officer for 10th Mountain DIV as well as serving as the J-3 for the JTF Southern Border.   The 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, known by its Hollywood call-sign “Commando Brigade”, is a light infantry unit headquartered at Fort Drum, New York. Carrying the proud motto “Courage and Honor,” the brigade traces its lineage to the 10th Mountain Division’s storied World War II legacy in the mountains of Italy, where it earned distinction for its rugged combat effectiveness in extreme terrain. Reactivated in the post-Vietnam era, 2nd IBCT has since deployed multiple times in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, exemplifying rapid deployment capability, adaptability, and lethality. Today, the Commando Brigade remains a cornerstone of the Army’s light infantry force, specializing in mountain and cold-weather operations while preparing for large scale combat operations across multiple domains.   The “golden hour” concept from the Global War on Terror era is being expanded in LSCO to account for prolonged casualty care under contested evacuation timelines. Whole blood and walking blood banks extend treatment coverage, creating larger windows for evacuation to the next level of care. While long practiced within Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF), this marks the first employment of the concept by a conventional unit in recent history.   This episode of The Crucible podcast explores the evolving challenges and adaptations required for effective medical operations in LSCO. With evacuation timelines stretching well beyond the traditional “golden hour,” the discussion centers on how leaders must anticipate prolonged casualty care in contested environments. Panelists emphasized that bleeding remains the leading cause of battlefield death, and maneuver elements—not just medics—must assume responsibility for initiating lifesaving interventions at the point of injury. A key enabler discussed is the implementation of walking blood banks using pre-screened low-titer O donors to provide whole-blood transfusions far forward, drastically extending survivability in austere environments where surgical care is delayed or inaccessible.   The conversation also dives into the training implications for units preparing to conduct prolonged care. Leaders must invest time and energy into building whole-blood programs, standardizing procedures across echelons, and ensuring both medics and maneuver elements are prepared to manage triage, resource allocation, and life-saving interventions. Emphasis was placed on incorporating these efforts well before deployment—ideally as part of the training glidepath and Soldier Readiness Processing process—and enabling unit-level adjudication through validated kits and simplified protocols. The Joint Trauma System guidelines, Ranger Regiment best practices, and Marine Corps programs like Valkyrie were all cited as models for force-wide adoption. This episode represents a critical push toward institutiona

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-ninth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by MAJ Marc Howle, the Brigade Senior Engineer / Protection Observer-Coach-Trainer, and MAJ David Pfaltzgraff, BDE S-3 Operations OCT, from Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ) on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are CPT Joshua Ash, a Company Commander with 1-509th IN (ABN) (Opposing Force), MAJ Reed Ziegler, the BN S-3 Operations OCT in TF-1 (Infantry BN), SFC Walter Jinks, the Explosive Hazard Advisor OCT in the Fires Support TF, and MSG Brandon Roberts, the BDE Fires Support NCO OCT in BC2 (BCT HQ).   The Hip Pocket Training series is a short-form series focused on single-topic insights for the warfighter on the go. Quick, relevant, and ready when you are!   This episode of The Crucible focuses on the application of the military decision-making process (MDMP) in the defense, emphasizing how terrain, threat, and timing uniquely shape defensive operations during large-scale combat operations (LSCO). The hosts and guests walk through the interconnected steps of MDMP and engagement area development, noting that these are not mutually exclusive but instead must be integrated. The team emphasizes the importance of early terrain analysis during mission analysis, identifying enemy avenues of approach, and positioning most casualty-producing weapon systems. Fires planning is highlighted as both enemy- and terrain-informed, with best practices including placing targets in front of, on, and beyond the position to avoid over-saturating the battlespace and ensure rehearsable and executable fires.   Preparation emerges as a central theme, with observations that many units wait too long to plan and begin defense construction, leading to compressed timelines and poorly executed operations. The podcast outlines critical practices such as conducting a defense preparation rehearsal before line of departure (LD), synchronizing Class IV/V deliveries, employing engineer assets efficiently, and securing battle positions from UAS observation. The episode also explores friction points with fires rehearsals—especially the importance of digital tech rehearsals—and the lingering challenge of replacing lost cavalry reconnaissance capability with company- and battalion-level initiatives. Ultimately, the conversation drives home that successful defenses are those planned early, prepared thoroughly, rehearsed repeatedly, and executed with integrated fires, concealment, and security that match the enemy’s tempo and capability.   Part of S13 “Hip Pocket Training” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-eighth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by COL Ricky Taylor, the Commander of Ops Group (COG) and CSM Bill Gallant, the Command Sergeant Major of Ops Group (CSMOG). Today’s guest is the Commander of 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, COL Eric Soults.   The 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, is the premier infantry formation of the Iowa Army National Guard, headquartered in Boone, Iowa. As part of the storied “Red Bull” Division, the brigade carries forward a legacy of combat excellence dating back to North Africa and Italy in World War II and extensive deployments in the Global War on Terror. The division’s official motto, “Attack, Attack, Attack,” captures the offensive spirit ingrained in its culture. The brigade’s Hollywood call-sign is “Ryder.”   This episode dives deep into the realities of modern warfare from the perspective of the Army National Guard, drawing on the experience of a recent JRTC rotation and upcoming deployment to the CENTCOM AOR. Topics include joint interoperability with international partners such as Kosovo and Jordan, the complexity of managing a brigade built from 19 states, and the use of tools like the “Ryder Way” to enforce standards and discipline. The conversation emphasizes the need to establish early relationships with partner forces, ruthlessly enforce battle rhythm and reporting discipline, and adapt to rapidly changing mission sets across operational phases from training to mobilization.   Other key points include the challenges of sustainment and the innovative use of a sustainment common operating picture or “SUSCOP” to enable proactive logistics. The brigade’s leadership emphasizes empowering NCOs, enforcing standards across dispersed units, and maximizing limited training time by focusing on the fundamentals—especially at the squad and platoon level. The episode concludes with insights on the importance of effective commander-to-commander and staff dialogue, clear expectations, and synchronization of drill periods, all critical to preparing an Army National Guard brigade for LSCO and deployment abroad.   Part of S02 “If I Would Have Only Known” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-seventh episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by the Senior Medical Operations Officer Observer-Coach-Trainer for the Task Force Sustainment (BSB / CSSB), CPT Victor Velez on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are two senior medical professionals, SFC Daniel Booker and MSG Bradley Robinson. SFC Booker is the Medical Operations NCO OCT for Aviation TF (CAB) and MSG Robinson is the Senior Enlisted Medical Advisor OCT for TF Sustainment (BSB / CSSB).   This episode explores the evolving landscape of medical operations in large-scale combat operations (LSCO), emphasizing both clinical care and medical logistics under austere, high-tempo conditions. The discussion begins by highlighting training shortfalls in areas such as prolonged field care, expectant casualty care, and the degradation of trauma skills due to lack of high-acuity exposure. The panel underscores the importance of standardizing Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) and incorporating behavioral health (BH) into austere environments. Updated triage doctrine—including a two-pass system and the mass casualty management model—is discussed as a key development, reinforcing that triage is not just a medical responsibility but a leader’s responsibility across the formation.   Observed trends during recent rotations were highlighted, such as the motivation and preparedness of young medics, the resurgence of fieldcraft (digging in, concealment, basic weapons handling), and the movement toward analog systems to reduce complexity. Leader certification and talent management emerge as recurring themes, emphasizing the need for medics to integrate operational planning and communicate effectively with maneuver leaders. Best practices include early development of the medical common operating picture (MEDCOP), effective use of LTP, cross-functional training opportunities, SOP development, and creative training under constraints like limited drill periods. The episode closes with guidance on improving air and ground casualty evacuation operations, promoting distributed medicine concepts, and empowering medics as force multipliers—not just clinicians, but warfighters.   Part of S05 “Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids, Batteries, Water, & Fuel” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-sixth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by CSM Bill Gallant, the Command Sergeant Major of Ops Group (CSMOG). Today’s guests are four seasoned infantry task force command sergeants major. CSM Lucas Young is the TF CSM for Task Force 2 (IN BN) with ten rotations as an Observer – Coach – Trainer and four rotations as a rotational training unit. CSM Bryan Jaragoske is the TF CSM for Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ) with three rotations as an OCT and five rotations as RTU. CSM Edwards Cummings is the TF CSM for Task Force 3 (IN BN) with nineteen rotations as an OCT and four rotations as RTU. And CSM Robert Absher is the TF CSM for Task Force 1 (IN BN) with four rotations as an OCT and eight rotations as RTU. In this episode of ‘The Crucible,’ the conversation centers on the evolving and enduring role of noncommissioned officers (NCOs) in infantry warfighting during large-scale combat operations (LSCO). The discussion highlights how NCOs are stepping up in planning processes—especially in course of action development—providing ground truth from the field, validating feasibility, and integrating fire and maneuver. NCOs’ battlefield experience enables them to shape planning guidance, refine timelines, and ensure plans account for realistic sustainment, movement, and transition conditions. The panel underscores the importance of rehearsals and timelines, the application of fieldcraft, camouflage, deception, and understanding terrain—not just through mapping, but through hands-on analysis and feedback. The episode also explores how infantry NCOs are central to managing the fight during transitions, supporting fire planning, and leading security zone operations.   A recurring theme is the necessity of blending technological advancement with mastery of fundamentals. The speakers caution against overreliance on tech like ATACs or drones without maintaining proficiency in basic soldiering skills such as map and compass navigation or patrolling under load. The conversation moves through sustainment challenges, especially medical evacuation, logistics discipline, and terrain management, offering best practices like rehearsing casualty evacuation and involving junior leaders in sustainment planning. Ultimately, the discussion affirms that well-trained, thinking NCOs—those who know the commander’s intent and can adapt when the plan breaks—are vital to combat effectiveness. Leadership, initiative, and the ability to bridge modernization with the realities of the battlefield form the cornerstone of successful infantry operations in LSCO.   Part of S03 “Lightfighter Lessons” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast.   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-fifth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by COL Ricky Taylor, the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are four seasoned infantry task force seniors. LTC Andy Smith is the TF Senior for Task Force 2 (IN BN) with ten rotations as an Observer – Coach – Trainer and six rotations as a rotational training unit. LTC Matt Bandi is the TF Senior for Task Force 3 (IN BN) with nine rotations as an OCT and four rotations as RTU. LTC(P) Timothy Price is the TF Senior for Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ) with twenty-one rotations as an OCT and seven rotations as RTU. And LTC Chuck Wall is the TF Senior for Task Force 1 (IN BN) with nine rotations as an OCT and five rotations as RTU. This episode of The Crucible centers on the raw, uncompromising realities of infantry warfighting in the LSCO environment, drawing directly from firsthand observations at JRTC. The discussion highlights how success on the modern battlefield is built on a foundation of small-unit fundamentals—movement, marksmanship, reporting, and rehearsals. Leaders emphasize that doctrinal clarity and simplicity at the squad and platoon level remain decisive, especially under pressure from drone surveillance, EW interference, and contested logistics. Units that survive and win are those that maintain discipline in their fieldcraft: they camouflage well, rehearse everything, and operate with a combat mindset that anticipates disruption rather than being surprised by it.   The conversation also underscores the importance of deliberate leadership placement, effective use of terrain, and clarity in commander’s intent. Fieldcraft isn’t just about staying hidden—it’s about moving smart, planning for degraded comms, and sustaining yourself under fire. Leaders describe how critical it is for junior NCOs and officers to own their piece of the battlefield, from shaping local security zones to enforcing LOGSTAT discipline. The episode drives home that modernization won’t compensate for a lack of tactical proficiency—and that high-tech tools like sUAS, ATAK, or digital fires architecture only matter if teams have mastered the analog skills to shoot, maneuver, communicate, and survive under stress.   Remember, Professionals train for the fight—they rehearse under pressure, refine fundamentals, and prepare for the worst-case scenario. Amateurs train until they get it right; professionals train until they can’t get it wrong. In LSCO, that difference means survival.   Part of S03 “Lightfighter Lessons” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast.   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we’d like to thank our guests for participating. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-fourth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by the Task Force Senior for the TF Sustainment (BSB / CSSB), LTC Bruce Roett on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today’s guests are three seasoned medical professionals with 1st Mobility Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division. LTC Justin Bowmen is the Battalion Commander for the 426th Light Support Battalion of the 1st Mobility Brigade Combat Team in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). MAJ Ryan Morrisis the Brigade Support Operations Officer (SPO) for 1st MBCT of the 101st ABD (AASLT). CPT William Breedlove is the S-3 Operations Officer for the 426th LSB of the1st MBCT of the 101st ABD (AASLT).   The 426th Light Support Battalion (LSB), formerly the 426th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB), serves as the sustainment backbone of the 1st Mobility Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne,” 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). Known by its Hollywood call-sign “Taskmasters,” the battalion carries the proud motto “Taskmasters Can!” and has a long lineage of support excellence dating back to its origins in World War II. Initially activated as part of the 101st Division Support Command, the unit provided critical logistics support during key operations in Europe, including Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. Reorganized as the 426th BSB in the modular force era, the battalion has since deployed in support of multiple contingency operations, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, as one of the Army’s first Light Support Battalions under the Division Sustainment Brigade model, the 426 LSB is pioneering new methods of distributed sustainment, mobile logistics, and command post survivability in support of LSCO as part of Task Force Bastogne’s transformation-in-contact initiative.   This episode delivers an in-depth discussion on the employment of the Light Support Battalion (LSB) within the new Mobility Brigade Combat Team (MBCT) framework, using 426th LSB for 1st MBCT of the 101st Airborne Division as a case study. The episode explores the structural transition from a traditional Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) to an LSB under the Division Sustainment Brigade (DSB), including the reorganization of support companies into more mobile and modular Combat Logistics Companies (CLCs). These companies are purpose-built for direct support to light infantry battalions in LSCO environments. Key topics include changes to task organization, reductions in personnel and equipment, and the resulting impacts on mission command and sustainment support. The LSB’s experimentation with a three-cluster BSA configuration was highlighted, emphasizing survivability through dispersion, redundancy in support capabilities, and operational flexibility.   Best practices included deliberate MDMP planning cycles, the integration of emerging technologies such as Skydio drones for BSA security and route reconnaissance, and the execution of detailed sustainment rehearsals using physical props to visualize commodity flow. Friction points were numerous and centered around command and control challenges created by dispersed nodes, difficulty in maintaining a shared common operating picture (COP), digital system limitations, and underutilized analog backups. Suggested improvements included co-locating SPO and staff leadership for planning synchronization, building greater analog COP redundancy, improving digital communications through more widespread fielding of TSM/MUOS radios, and formalizing a more mobile and survivable C2 infrastructure. The episode concludes with a recognition that while the LSB construct is still maturing, it provides a more adaptive and threat-informed sustainment capability suitable for LSCO.   Part of S05 “Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids, Batteries, Water, & Fuel” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Insta

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-third episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience.’ Hosted by COL Ricky Taylor, the Commander of Ops Group (COG). The COG is joined by the Aviation Task Force’s TF Senior, LTC Amoreena “Ammo” York. Today’s guest is Deputy Commanding General for Support of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), BG Travis McIntosh (Eagle 09).   The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), known as the “Screaming Eagles” and bearing the callsign “Eagle,” is one of the most storied and combat-proven divisions in U.S. Army history. Activated in 1942, the division gained immortal fame during World War II with combat jumps into Normandy and Holland and its heroic defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Since then, it has served with distinction from Vietnam to the Global War on Terror, transforming from parachute infantry to the Army’s only air assault division. With its motto “Rendezvous with Destiny,” the 101st continues to lead from the front—now as the Army’s premier Transformation-in-Contact division. As part of the Army’s mobility and modernization focus, the 101st is pioneering the integration of multi-domain capabilities, advanced sUAS platforms, electronic warfare, and the next-generation squad weapons within highly mobile infantry formations. Their next rendezvous with destiny will not just be defined by historic legacy—but by shaping how the Army fights and wins in large-scale combat operations on tomorrow’s battlefield.   In this episode we discuss the re-emergence of large-scale, long-range air assaults as a possibly decisive form of maneuver in the 21st-century fight and the some of the capabilities required to achieve success. Our guest highlights that the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) is reclaiming its mantle as America’s premier vertical envelopment force. These operations extend deep into contested terrain, often beyond traditional fire support coverage, and demand precision planning, synchronized fires, and an adaptive joint team. The division’s air assault capabilities, when executed at echelon, enable rapid massing of combat power across extended distances to seize key terrain, disrupt enemy formations, and establish lodgments for follow-on operations. However, these assaults cannot succeed without Joint Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (JSEAD). The ability to suppress, deceive, or destroy enemy integrated air defense systems is foundational to aviation survivability and mission success. Airspace must be contested—and then cleared—through layered fires and effects across domains. As BG McIntosh and Task Force Bastogne demonstrated during recent large-scale exercises, air assault isn’t just a legacy tactic—it’s a modern instrument of tempo and shock when paired with precision intelligence, hardened command posts, and rapid sustainment.   The 101st’s renewed focus on scale, range, and survivability represents its next Rendezvous with Destiny. Gone are the days of low-intensity, air corridor-based insertions. Today’s battlefield requires lift platforms operating in low-signature modes, digitally integrated with maneuver elements, and prepared to operate inside denied or degraded electromagnetic environments. With the introduction of the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) ecosystem on the horizon, and the ongoing proliferation of UAS and electronic warfare, Army aviation must evolve from just being “mobility” to becoming a key component of multi-domain convergence. Under McIntosh’s vision, the division is shaping the doctrine and culture necessary to fight and win in LSCO: aggressively training mission command at distance, investing in distributed planning tools, and adapting air-ground integration to incorporate SOF, cyber, and space enablers. The air assault is no longer just an insertion method—it’s a high-risk, high-reward maneuver enabled by fires, intelligence, and the ironclad trust between aviators and ground c