They were the first division-level exercises for the 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-US Combined Division, the US military’s only multinational division formed in 2015. ROK are the initials for South Korea’s official name.
The drills included live fire from American and South Korean howitzers, tanks, machine guns, and mortars. A-10 attack aircraft and Apache helicopters also participated.
Rounds from howitzers pounded into a mountainside at the Rodriguez Life Fire Complex, as main battle tanks from both sides manoeuvred and fired their guns at targets, sending shockwaves across the valley.
Colonel Brandon Anderson, the division’s deputy commander for manoeuvre, said the drills were not aimed at any one adversary, but they obviously took into account the “reason for the US-ROK alliance” – alluding to North Korea.
The drills were designed to simulate battling a “near-peer” enemy who could match the allies in capabilities, he said.
“We’re training for large-scale combat operations,” Anderson said, noting that the conflict in Ukraine had provided lessons on the need to improve long-range artillery and surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
He denied that these drills were among those delayed for political reasons but said COVID-19 and the logistical challenges of pulling off a multinational exercise with live ammunition meant the allies had been unable to conduct the practice until now.