Fort Indiantown Gap is currently hosting a warfighter exercise – a validation/recertification of division and brigade levels held by the army every couple of years to assess deployment capabilities.
Pennsylvania National Guard spokesperson Major Travis Mueller said that while the exercise is happening at Fort Indiantown Gap, it’s the different army units involved that are actually running it.
“(The warfighter exercise) provides realistic and simulated interactions to test unit-level leadership and staff decisions,” said Mueller.
Mueller advised the public to take extra precautions navigating around the base while the exercise is ongoing through mid-June due to the influx of personnel. Although the warfighter exercise does not take place exclusively at the Gap, and only a certain time in the three- to four-week exercise will involve on-the-ground training, it is taking place amidst the base’s busiest period of the year.
As noted in a recent article by Brad Rhen, the Gap has been in the top three busiest National Guard training centers since 2013 – and it was ranked first six of the last eight years. Fort Indiantown Gap is Pennsylvania’s only live-fire and maneuver military base.
Mueller said that the first week of June, the Gap expects to host some 8,000 to 10,000 personnel for training. That count is not just for the warfighter exercise, but includes regular drill weekends, two-week annual trainings, and civilian agency usage.
The primary goal of the warfighter exercise is so that the army knows that certain units will be able to deploy if and when the need arises.
The Gap’s “busy season” runs from the week after Easter through August, with training volume peaking in June or July.
Read More: Main gate and visitors center at Fort Indiantown Gap near completion
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