A Soldier of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th

A Soldier of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, monitors his sector of fire with a mounted 50 caliber machine gun, on July 25, 2020 at Fort Irwin, California's National Training Center.
Soldiers of the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry Regiment, conduct a long and grueling, pre-dawn attack as the culminating force-on-force training event at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California. From Bradley Fighting Vehicles, M1A1 Abrams tanks, and dismounted Soldiers, the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, utilized all assets from its subordinate battalions to reclaim the contested town of Razish from the opposition force known as “Blackhorse.” Blackhorse Soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment are dedicated to testing units in “The Box.”
In preparation for the attack on the city of Razish, the 2-136th CAB staged troops for the decisive action movement at 2 a.m. Since “The Box” is considered a contested area, avoiding the use of headlights to remain undetected by the opposition force is key. Drivers employed night-vision goggles paired with ambient light from the moon for the early morning positioning.
Bradleys and tanks moved in unison until infantrymen dismounted and bounded forward to the objective occupied by the enemy. Block-by-block and room-by-room, the town was cleared of enemy combatants and taken by Red Bull Soldiers, and the mission was declared a success.
NTC’s 996-square-mile training range offers brigades the unique opportunity to conduct tough and realistic land operations, giving combat, medical and leadership teams the chance to train in deployment-like conditions. Training rotations include mass-casualty exercises, base attacks, and other contingency training to test and teach Soldiers.