Post by Neale S.

Clearing out my desk drawer, I found the pieces for a small #wargame we ran for 101 Regt RA's recce parties on what was the forerunner to Ex IRON DRAGON; Ex STONE DRAGON, during ADE in September (?) 2020. Ignoring for a moment what passes for innovation in current training, this exercise linked 101's MLRS group in Kirkudbright, their embryonic MNFAHQ in Solstice Park and an LO deployed in Grafenwohr with a downlink. They were supported by TUAS from a 47 Regt RA det, looking into the 41st FAB TAI for Ex RAILGUNNER LIGHTNING on the German/Czech border, with all targets observed concurrently in UK and Germany. Just to add a little more spice, Covid made travel a bit more challenging, so Daniel Venter met the 101 LO on the pavement outside Terminal 5 where he got off his flight from Newcastle, popped out for five minutes training, then took his downlink onto his Germany flight. Two weeks quarantine in Grafenwohr with a load of US JFO was not wasted; Daniel, a former OP Ack L4, ran CFF training from Wiltshire to Bavaria daily using the downlink and VOIP comms. STONE DRAGON was visitied by the US DComd 3XX who was blown away, and by DCFA, who was a little more reserved ;-) Towards the end, the Regular Army heard about it and jumped on with elements of the JAGIC as a warmer into the bank for IRON DRAGON. The rest, as they say, is history. Anyway, back to the recce #wargame; a single day, and possibly the most productive element for any single group apart from MNFAHQ. Anyone can do 'complex'... Train hard, fight easy.