Army still needs world-class 'red force' in training centers.

• Author: Tiron, Roxana
• Position: Ground Combat

Standing by his decision to send the service's elite training troops to fight in Iraq, a senior Army official said he is considering changing the structure and use of the units that so far have been assigned to play the enemy's role in large-scale exercises.

The decision to deploy the National Training Center's resident OpFor does not imply the Army is backing away from the need to keep world-class opposing units at its combat training centers, said Gen. Dan McNeill, the head of the U.S. Army's Forces Command.

Earlier this year, the Army announced the mobilization of two battalions and one engineer company from the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment--also known as the Blackhorse--which serves as a professional "enemy" force at the National Training Center, at Fort Irwin, Calif.

Their deployment is scheduled for the beginning of next year, said officials. Although the regiment volunteered to fight in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the Army turned it down, said McNeill. The last time the Blackhorse saw combat was in the Vietnam War.

Nevada National Guard troops from the 1st squadron 221st Cavalry Regiment are expected to fill in for the OpFor at NTC, said a FORSCOM spokesperson. These troops regularly have worked alongside the Blackhorse as part of the OpFor during exercises in the Mojave Desert, which should ensure that the training quality will not be degraded once the 11th ACR goes to war, said the spokesperson.

Meanwhile, two companies from the 1st battalion of the 509th Infantry Regiment already are fighting in Iraq. Also known as the Geronimo, the unit acts as the OpFor for light and special operations training at the Joint Readiness Training Center, based at Fort Polk, La. The 509th Infantry has not seen combat since World War II. Geronimo headquarters staff stayed behind to train the 1st battalion of the 131st Infantry, from the Illinois National Guard, which is taking over the OpFor role, said McNeill.

The deployment of the Army's elite training forces--usually undefeated by the soldiers training with them--could allow the Army to change the units' structure down the line, said McNeill.

"If we wanted to change the Blackhorse structure somewhere [for example], this looks like it may be a good opportunity," McNeill told reporters at the Army's infantry conference at Fort Benning, Ga. "It would seem a no-brainer not to take some of the best trained forces we have and not put them in the fight."

Since some change in their formations already...