CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea –
The sky was grey without a cloud in sight.
The sounds of helicopter blades and artillery grenades were all that could be
heard. An AH-64 Apache swooped into picture and stayed at a hover at least a
hundred yards from the control tower. A few seconds went by until a loud hiss
rang out, and two rockets propelled down range toward their target leaving
nothing but a small cloud of dust left to be seen.
The helicopter was part of the joint/combined live fire training exercise,
'Furious Talon', on May 6 at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in South Korea.
Multiple units from across the Korean Peninsula took part in the exercise to
include units from the Air Force and the Republic of Korea.
Capt. Derek Brown, the plans officer for the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, was
the officer in charge of the exercise. "The
goal of the exercise is to bring multiple teams together to perform tasks that
could happen in real wartime situations," Brown said.
Part of the exercise saw out a joint/combined attack with AH-64 Apaches from
the 2nd CAB, artillery from the 210th Fires Bde. and Cobras from the ROKA all
working together to complete the mission.
"We are using a lot of different assets in this training," Brown
said. "For the combined attack there were a lot of conflicting events we
had to work through like the timing of when the artillery would fire paired
with when the Apaches could fly in."
Brown had a hand in most of the planning for the exercise to include the
combined air assault with CH-47 Chinooks from the 3rd General Support Aviation
Battalion and Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. "The air assault planning was very
detailed," Brown said. "Our guys need to know exactly what to do
because it is a very aggressive mission."
Col. Hank Taylor, the 2nd CAB commander, watched the completion of the exercise
and said he was impressed by the performance of his Soldiers. "Every single Soldier from the fuelers to
the pilots did their part today," Taylor said. "This exercised proved
just how well U.S. and ROK forces work together."
Taylor said he was especially impressed by the effort Brown put forth
throughout the entire process.
"Capt. Brown is a former Apache attack company commander," Taylor
said. "His past experience of leading attacks led to him being successful
today."
He said the helicopters used during the exercise are some of the most lethal
aviation platforms in the world, and this training allowed people to see their
capabilities.
"This is what has to happen during real wartime," Taylor said.
"Everyone comes together."
When the dust clouds had settled, the targets were destroyed, the Soldiers had
assaulted and the mission was complete.