Crossing the River "Regen": regenerating combat power at NTC.

A rotation at the National Training Center (NTC) is one of the toughest training events a battalion will undertake. Fighting the World-Class Opposing Forces (OPFOR)--on their own turf--makes for an intense training event that challenges each and every member of a combat engineer battalion. But this is more than a big field training exercise; it truly is a campaign. Just deploying to a "hostile country" is a challenge. Drawing pre-positioned vehicles and equipment along with all classes of supplies--in a compressed time schedule--requires planning and organization to get into the maneuver box, ready to fight.

Unfortunately, once a battalion finishes battling the OPFOR, it is ready to sit back and bask in the glory that comes from working hard and successfully throttling the enemy, but this is when the "real fight" starts. The next phase of the campaign is aiming all drawn equipment back to ITT, the contractor that owns and maintains the pre-positioned fleet at NTC. This is the turbulent River "Regen" that your unit must cross in order to get everyone home! Regeneration--or regen--is extremely difficult and can bring a unit to its knees if it has not properly prepared for this fight. Recently, the 4th Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colorado, completed two rotations to NTC within seven months. During the second rotation, we were able to apply valuable lessons learned during our previous rotation. We returned to home station knowing that not only had we successfully battled the OPFOR, but we also had successfully "won" the regeneration fight!

The following system worked well for the 4th Engineer Battalion. In addition to being a compilation of our lessons learned, it also contains lessons from the experiences of other units. We are sure the system can be improved, but it is a great baseline to start with as a unit prepares for a rotation to NTC.

Regeneration Is a Mission

Like any other mission, regeneration requires thorough planning; an order; rehearsals; and solid command, control, and communications. It is a training event that should have its own after-action review (AAR). (That's where we captured the lessons learned from the first rotation.) As engineers, regeneration seems very similar to a river crossing. There is literally a hardball road between the "shores" of the turn-in yards, and the key to success is to get equipment to the far shore (ITT's side) and keep it there.

Since we knew there would be a "crossing" during this campaign, we started our planning before we left home station. We did a sand table of Irwin Military City and conducted rehearsals for reception, staging, onward movement, and integration (RSOI) and regeneration so that all of our leaders understood the terrain. The staff gathered tools that would be critical during regeneration, and the units identified key leaders and operators for the process. We developed tracking charts for the draw grid that included every piece of equipment we would draw and had the tracking charts enlarged and laminated. We designed the charts as spreadsheets and used them as part of our nightly status report throughout both RSOI and regeneration.

We found it important to identify all vehicles by both their home station bumper numbers and the NTC admin numbers. ITT and the NTC Theater Support Command talk solely using NTC numbers, and by the end of regeneration, most soldiers and leaders are more comfortable with the NTC numbers than those of the home station.

As part of our unit's preparation, we brought office supplies specifically for regeneration, including accordion files for each company and job order folders for each vehicle and trailer. These folders became the key management tools to ensure that files were complete and allowed us to maintain positive control over all of the paperwork for each piece of equipment. This helped avoid the frustration of getting a vehicle ready for the final quality check and discovering that the air filter slip was missing.

Planning Is Critical

We wrote a separate operations order (OPORD) for the regeneration operation that covered the end of live fire through the turn-in of equipment and redeployment to home station. The OPORD covered moving out of and clearing the maneuver box and occupying the RUFMA. An OPORD shell was completed before deploying to NTC, and the staff planning was completed during the live-fire transition. We did not conduct a full rehearsal in the field, but each commander and primary staff officer back- briefed the battalion commander on his plan before departing the box.

A battalion can prepare in many ways for success during regeneration, but the most important step is for operators and supervisors to be ruthless about completing DA Forms 5988E, Equipment Maintenance Worksheet, and processing them through the maintenance system each day the unit is in the maneuver box. This is easier said than done when the OPFOR is pressing from all sides, you can't find the mine-clearing line charge (MICLIC) tags, and the observer/controller wants an AAR. But if you don't get low-density engineer parts on order early, your unit will spend additional days in the RUBA--also known as the "Dust Bowl"-waiting for parts instead of heading home.

In addition to working the Army maintenance system as designed, there are several other systems that you can implement within your unit to improve the probability of success. It was absolutely critical for us to designate one NCO to be in charge of locally purchased repair parts. The Theater Support Command maintenance tech is a wealth of information about local sources, but one NCO-who had a commercial vehicle and a government credit card and could run for parts--was a linchpin throughout the entire rotation. (Your installation resource manager will want you to keep track of the purchases for NTC versus home station vehicles.) You also need to understand the turn-in standard. Although the rumor mill told us that ITT would change the standards between drawing equipment and turning it in, we found that the ITT team was extremely fair. The team used an NTC Overprint 2404, Equipment Inspection and Maintenance Worksheet, for each vehicle rather than a 10/20 standard out of a technical manual. The same standard fo rm is used at draw and turn-in time. In addition to daily DA Forms 598 8E, our operators completed an NTC Overprint 2404 during live-fire transition to identify problems early and get parts on order before departing the maneuver box.

Finally, you must complete the Army Oil Analysis Program (AOAP) samples while the unit is in the maneuver box. This is easy to do, but it requires an NCO in the unit maintenance collection point (UMCP) to track each vehicle and ensure that each sample is collected and turned in and the results returned. ITT will not accept a vehicle without the proper AOAP paperwork.

Start on the Right Foot

Once the final battle is over, the tendency is for units to sit back and relax for a day or two. After all, they have fought an intense campaign against the Krasnovian hordes over the previous 14 days and now deserve a break. This is the worst thing a unit can do because it puts it two days behind on recovery and turn-in. This is when leaders must be ready to execute an already-developed plan and execute it violently! Soldiers must understand that each day wasted up front is an extra day in the Dust Bowl. Once the unit finishes initial battlefield recovery in the maneuver box and begins redeployment to the Dust Bowl, everyone's focus must turn to regeneration.

The first part of the regeneration mission is redeploying from the maneuver box. Successfully accomplished, this postures the unit for the regeneration fight. We set up a drive-through station that was run by the engineer battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), which gathered all Class I, IV, and V supplies and trash from each of our units before it left the live-fire area. Our brigade combat team (BCT) conducted a four-corners (referring to the intersection of the two main range roads) drill that accomplished the same requirements outside the cantonment area, but most of the battalion's vehicles were able to drive straight through and into the RUFMA because they were already downloaded. When planning, don't forget the engineer piece of clearing training areas. You will have to fill in all the major holes, and there is no reason to race blade assets back to the RUFMA just to send them out again.

The quartering party for the battalion was the UMCP. The battalion maintenance technician (BMT) and battalion motor sergeant (BMS) set up shop in the trailer provided and were ready for the companies to arrive. They had marked vehicle lines by fleet, rather than by company, and the mechanics were ready for the vehicles. We consolidated all mechanics and reorganized by fleet: tracked, wheeled, and engineer. This aligns the unit's assets with ITT's crew organization.

Since most vehicles did not have to stop at four corners, the drawn vehicles immediately got into line for the washrack. This is the first step, and the line gets long. This is where great NCOs take over as they use the "down" time in line to remove the Multiple Integrated Laser Equipment System (MILES), download personal gear, and move home station equipment and sets, kits, and outfits to the MILVANs. This is also where home station vehicles separate from drawn vehicles. Home station equipment does not go through the washrack but goes right to the MILES warehouse. Drawn vehicles that were not mission-capable bypassed the washrack and went straight to the maintenance area. These vehicles were very specifically tracked, knowing that the ITT inspectors could not conduct the joint technical inspection (TI) until the operator washed the vehicle.

Vehicle Turn-In Process

Once we pushed drawn vehicles through the washrack, downloaded the MILES, and turned in items such as communications equipment and weapons, we parked them on line in the Dust Bowl. Once there, the vehicles did not move until ITT inspectors conducted the initial joint TI. This is the inspection that identifies the deficiencies operators will ultimately work off before they can turn in the vehicle. Units must be careful about pulling vehicles out of the RUFMA for a detail. During our first rotation, we had to pull an M916 truck and a loader out of the RUFMA--after ITT had already conducted the joint TI--to clear part of the training area. The operator had already worked off a great deal of the vehicle deficiencies, but he had to start over once he cleared the training area, a morale buster at best!

Each operator must replace the air filter on his vehicle as part of the regeneration process. This can be done before the joint TI, and the shop gives him a slip verifying that the filter has been replaced. Leaders must ensure that the slip gets into the vehicle's packet in the job order folder because no one can turn in a vehicle without one. This is where the folders become so important.

There is a line boss from ITT for each unit, and working with him as a teammate will make life much easier. Inspectors do not work for your line boss so you will have to coordinate for them to inspect your vehicles. Get this done as soon as possible! You can't order the right parts or work the right deficiencies until you have an NTC Overprint 2404 from the joint TI. Our BMT was the primary person who worked with the line boss, and the BMS worked with the inspectors. Everything was centralized through battalion maintenance with the BMT, BMS, and maintenance battle captain. This last part of the team was one of the tactical operations center (TOC) battle captains who ran all communications and reported from the trailer in the RUFMA to the rest of the leaders on the ground. Operators, squad leaders, platoon sergeants, and platoon leaders were not allowed to coordinate with the line boss. During both rotations, we saw operators lose their tempers because of frustration with a system they did not understand. Work ing with ITT--not against them--is the key to going home.

All of the maintenance clerks were inside the trailer under the control of the BMT and BMS. Their role is very important since no one wants to wait for parts that are the wrong ones! They must also remove all home station vehicles from the Unit-Level Logistics System (ULLS) box and turn in all of the recoverable parts. You will not leave NTC unless all recoverables are turned in or your unit pays double for the part or assembly. The AOAP monitor is also in the trailer making sure that the AOAP documents are correct and in each folder.

The battle captain controlled the folders for each vehicle and trailer and the draw grid spreadsheet. Unless a mechanic was working on the vehicle or it was in the final quality assurance (QA) line, the folder stayed in the trailer. The battle captain or BMT coordinated with the line boss to get the pass required to get into the final QA line.

Command, Control, and Communication

Once operators work off deficiencies, the next phase of the fight begins. At this point, it is important to get leaders at key locations to control vehicle flow and track the location of all unit vehicles. A lot of time is wasted if a vehicle fails a final inspection for a minor problem and the operator gets out of line when he could have gone to the quick-fix line and been finished in a matter of minutes. As with a river crossing, leadership on the ground was our solution to this problem.

We did not allow a vehicle to go to the final QA line without an NCO. After a while, we identified certain NCOs who were successful at turning in vehicles. That NCO is not always a mechanic; in our unit, our best guy was a motivated cook! We placed key leaders at critical points on the battlefield. The battle captain ran the maintenance trailer and tracked where every vehicle was in the turn-in process. The Alpha Company commander went to the final QA line, and the HHC commander went to a staging area located a few hundred yards before the final QA line. When the QA line got too long, ITT tightly controlled the vehicles that got in, regardless of whether they had a pass or not. We staged vehicles close to the QA line under the control of a commander and treated that location much like the engineer regulating point (ERP) before a crossing site. The Charlie Company commander was at the MILES warehouse, the S1 was in the MCC, and the S4 was turning in secondary loads and basic issue items. The battalion commande r, executive officer, and command sergeant major moved among all of the sites. Since all leaders had communications equipment, it was easy to get one of the top three to a critical point on the regeneration battlefield when needed. Units without a senior leader in the RUFMA spent considerably more time before crossing the River Regen.

The RUFMA and the Dust Bowl did not seem very spacious, but by the second day, we had walked miles. Each leader must have communications equipment to provide status reports to the trailer as vehicles move in many directions throughout the RUFMA. AN/PRC-127 radios are the method of choice, but Motorola[R] and other handheld radios also work well. You cannot count on your vehicle radios since you will be turning them in or packing them for home station.

Each day after ITT shutdown, we conducted daily operations meetings to review the current status and establish priorities for that night and the next day. For us, it was a 24-hour-a-day operation, just like the training in the maneuver box, and we even executed a sleep plan to ensure that mechanics and operators were getting at least four hours of sleep each day.

The ITT line boss can be a tremendous asset. For vehicles requiring maintenance work above the capabilities of the BCT (depot level), the ITT line boss recommends arbitration. Then he coordinates and puts his recommendation on the arbitration process, and the unit turns the vehicle in with the required paperwork to go to the next maintenance level. We had several vehicles that went through arbitration. Establishing a good relationship with the line boss made this a less contentious process. He can also help with parts because he knows where most of the parts are throughout Fort Irwin and can point you in the right direction.

Almost Done, but Don't Stop Yet

Once you get down to the last 10 vehicles, ensure that you keep a sufficient number of key leaders and soldiers to complete the turn-in. The tendency is to try to get as many people home as you can (taking care of soldiers), and you end up short. Our forecasting rule for transportation was for a soldier to head home a full day after his vehicle was turned in. Since we worked 24 hours a day in the RUFMA, this gave everyone a chance to sleep, do laundry, and then start the manifest process. The standard was published in the regeneration OPORD, so everyone knew the rules up front.

We also kept several home station vehicles until the very end. All contact trucks, the wrecker, the Batmobile, and the tool truck stayed until the last day. If you don't have access to a commercial truck, you should also keep a cargo HMMWV to pickup parts and turn in recoverables. We contracted for three air compressors with impact wrenches to help in changing tracks and were able to return them when the last of the tracked vehicles were turned in. As the engineer battalion, you will probably be responsible for the environmental team of the White Cell, which means that you will be responsible for cleaning any spills in the RUFMA. We found it best to arrange for contracted equipment so drawn equipment can be turned in and home station equipment can be rail-loaded while still accomplishing the White Cell mission. You cannot use the same equipment you are turning in.

Conclusion

Every unit that goes to NTC learns a great deal from the experience. They get better with every fight and normally leave the maneuver box extremely proud of their combat readiness. One of the challenges that can bring a good unit to its knees is the regeneration process. The battle that awaits a unit when it comes out of the box is as tough as any fight it will experience at NTC. With proper preparation--both at home station and during the rotation--this final battle can be another streamer on the battalion colors. It's a great feeling to be the first battalion in the BCT to cross the River Regen and send soldiers home. This truly is the best way to end a successful campaign against the Krasnovian World-Class OPFOR!

RELATED ARTICLE: Keys to Success

1. Purchase locally

2. Use NTC Overprint 2404s.

3. Complete AOAP samples.

Steps for Vehicle Turn-In

1. Download.

2. Go through washrack.

3. Replace air filter and complete AOAP samples.

4. Perform joint TI with ITT.

5. Work off all deficiencies.

6. Obtain pass from line boss.

7. Go to final QA line.

8. Turn in or return to Step 5.

(Most vehicles will return to Step 5 several times before final turn-in.)

Vehicle Packets

1. Air filter pass.

2. AOAP printout.

3. Joint TI 2404 with all deficiencies worked off.

4. Pass from line boss.

5. Clean DA Form 5988E.

Lieutenant Colonel Knowlton is the European Command exercise planner in J37, U.S. Space Command. At the time this article was written, he commanded the 4th Engineer Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado. Previous assignments include the S3 and Assistant Division Engineer of the 307th Engineer Battalion, 82d Airborne Division, and company commander of units in Aschaffenburg and Berlin, Germany.

Lieutenant Colonel Teague is chief of training for the U.S. Army Space Command and was the battalion XO of the 4th Engineer Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, when this article was written. He previously served with the 10th and 19th Engineer Battalions and commanded the 13th Engineer Company (Construction Support).