Source: United States Army

Back to 

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

VICENZA, Italy – New personnel recently took charge of the mission for Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) in Africa and Italy.

The battalion’s relief in place was an incremental process that began in late June and concluded July 6 at Caserma Del Din in Italy, Camp Lemmonier in Djibouti, and various locations throughout Africa.

The Soldiers who now comprise the two CA companies are Army reservists of the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, based in Columbus, Ohio, and the 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, headquartered in McLeansville, North Carolina.

According to U.S. Army Maj. Bryan Bridges, the CA battalion’s tactical officer in charge who serves in Italy, the battalion provides command and control for two civil affairs companies and a security force assistance brigade team in U.S. Africa Command’s area of responsibility.

“The CA teams support AFRICOM in building partner capacity, advancing U.S. access and influence, integrating civil knowledge and supporting crisis response,” Bridges said.

As the new civil affairs crew began their nine-month deployment, they learned the normal duties and expectations from their predecessors through the Army’s traditional “left seat/right seat” familiarization. Bridges emphasized that this phase is especially important because the lessons learned by new personnel provide continuity for the mission, while avoiding gaps in command and control to help maintain that mission.

Bridges said his team in Italy will ensure that units in Africa have all the information they need to complete mission requirements, while also providing SETAF-AF necessary information from CA units in the field.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Kevin Jusza, outgoing battalion commander, explained that the CA mission is important to building baseline organizational trust with host nations, fostering and understanding local network access, and supporting partner forces’ training by incorporating the CA skill sets into their organizations. While the nature of civil affairs work is nonlethal, by making these connections and advancing relationships, CA operations contribute “through several lenses” to the Army’s overall, big-picture lethality and mission success.

“We work to ease and mitigate any tensions between U.S. forces and the local populace while developing mutual understanding and trust,” Jusza said.“ We also develop the civil common operating picture, creating a layout of the civilian area for U.S. commanders to better understand the environment.”

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Corey Damron, the incoming noncommissioned officer in charge of the operations (S3) section, said that his unit’s initial priorities will concentrate on ensuring that all staff functions and processes run efficiently, with a focus on mission analysis to expand capabilities and mission opportunities.

“Our [future] goals are to complete missions aligned with U.S. Africa Command and SETAF-AF lines of effort to increase American sentiment within Africa while maintaining operations,” Damron said.

During their deployment, the outgoing CA Soldiers achieved significant accomplishments, such as conducting a subject matter expert exchange in Libya and supporting contingency operations in Nigeria. Jusza noted that both were first-time engagements in those locations for an Army Reserve civil affairs organization.

As he prepared to head home, Jusza counseled flexibility and patience for CA Soldiers taking charge of the mission in Africa.

“The mission is always changing and evolving,” Jusza said. “Don’t get stuck on any preconceived notions you developed during mobilization.”

Related Stories

New team assumes mission for SETAF-AF civil affairs battalion | Nov. 17, 2025

Army Reserve civil affairs Soldiers deploy to Africa, strengthen partnerships | Dec. 4, 2023

About SETAF-AF

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) prepares Army forces, executes crisis response, enables strategic competition and strengthens partners to achieve U.S. Army Europe and Africa and U.S. Africa Command campaign objectives.

Follow SETAF-AF on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn & DVIDS

Source: United States Army

Date: July 24, 2026

Time: 3:30pm EST

Moderator: Lt. Col. Vonnie Wright

Panel Members:

• Col. Arthur Moore, Brigade Commander, 116th MBCT

• Command Sgt. Maj. Benzie Timberlake, Command Sergeant Major, 116th MBCT

• Lt. Col. Jonathan Cochran, Battalion Commander, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment

• Lt. Col. Michael Moynahan, Battalion Commander, 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment

• Major Jason Simulcik, Personnel Officer, 116th MBCT

• Captain Patrick Crute, Lead Planner, 116th MBCT

• First Lieutenant (P) Adam Mayers, Assistant Operations Officer, 116th MBCT

Reporters’ Present:

• Carley Welch, Breaking Defense

• Gina Cavallaro, Association of the United States Army (AUSA)

• John Goheen, National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS)

• Lisbeth Perez, MeriTalk

• Michael Metz, National Guard Bureau

• Jon Harper, Defense Scoop

COL Arthur Moore: I’m Colonel Arthur Moore, commanding officer of the 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team. At approximately 3400 soldiers, we are the largest major subordinate command in the Virginia Army National Guard. We’re headquartered in Staunton, Virginia. We have three infantry battalions based in Lynchburg, Virginia, Winchester, Virginia, and Barbourville, Kentucky; a support battalion based in Danville, Virginia; a multi-functional reconnaissance company based in Portsmouth, Virginia; a military intelligence company based in Manassas, Virginia; and a signal company based in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Additionally, we control a combat engineer company infantry headquartered in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and aligned with us for training is a fires battalion headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.

Before we get started, I just wanted to offer our condolences to our teammates who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the CENTCOM area of operations. Our prayers in the brigade go out to their families and to their units.

So, as mentioned before, we’re here in our nation’s capital to participate in the Army Current Operations Engagement Tour. And we’ve been talking about how we’re building readiness in the National Guard while modernizing. Over the last 18 months, the 116th Normandy Brigade modernized from an Infantry Brigade Combat Team to a Mobile Brigade Combat Team. We were the first of two National Guard brigades to do this. The National Guard plans to transition 25 of its 27 ground combat brigades to Mobile Brigade Combat Teams. That’s approximately half of the Army’s maneuver forces—a massive modernization effort that’s urgent as the Army shifts to a leaner, more lethal, and agile force ready to support the joint force in large-scale combat operations.

By the end of our transition, the brigade will have completed 35 fieldings, including infantry squad vehicles, unmanned aerial systems, counter-unmanned aerial systems, electromagnetic warfare capabilities, and more modern command and control systems to operate in 21st-century warfare. At the same time, we executed domestic operations, trained with foreign partners, completed an Exportable Combat Training Capability rotation at Fort Pickett, Virginia, in June of 2025, and a Combat Training Center rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, in June. We’ve innovated, built readiness, and increased our lethality. Now, in our ready year, we’re ready for any future state or federal mission if called upon.

Today, I’ve brought with me eight teammates here in the room with me: Command Sergeant Major Benzie Timberlake; two infantry battalion commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Cochran and Lieutenant Colonel Michael Moynahan, from Virginia and Kentucky respectively; Major Jason Simulcik, our brigade personnel officer; Sergeant Major Donald Spring, our brigade operations sergeant major; Captain Patrick Crute, our brigade lead planner; First Lieutenant (P) Adam Mayers, our brigade assistant operations officer; and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Gisselotte Ventura, our brigade property book officer.

We’re here today prepared to talk to you about what we’ve done to build readiness through our personnel and property transitions, our experimentation, our modernization with global allies, and lastly, how we leverage the Guard’s advantage—our citizen-soldiers with civilian expertise and professional networks—to innovate and modernize.

A few items to highlight: In April, the 116th conducted a multi-domain operations live-fire exercise at Fort Pickett, Virginia. Here, the brigade worked with Army Research Laboratories and industry partners to conduct localized offensive cyber operations to trigger live electromagnetic attack, reconnaissance, maneuver, and counter-unmanned aerial system engagements. And in June, at the Joint Readiness Training Center rotation, the 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team, along with National Guard units from 18 states and territories, three reserve component units, and foreign partners, stress-tested our formation against a world-class opposing force, experiencing the harsh realities of large-scale combat operations while refining our targeting processes and employing new fielded capabilities. And the 116th leveraged our partnership, including during our JAVELIN rotation, where the Finnish Army completed its first mortar live-fire exercise in the United States at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

So, with that introduction, we’re excited about this opportunity and this question-and-answer period, and we look forward to your questions.

LTC Vonnie Wright: All right, thank you, sir. Um, I will now begin with the first question. Carley Welch from Breaking Defense, do you have a question, ma’am?

Carley Welch (Breaking Defense): Yes, thank you. Um, I am curious what kind of technologies—you know, you mentioned ISVs, and you mentioned drones and counter-drones—is there any particular system that, you know, stood out the most to you and really you felt was enabling you to be kind of the most lethal? And then as a follow-up, you know, were there some things that weren’t working exactly well or could use some more work?

COL Arthur Moore: Well, certainly the infantry squad vehicles expand the battlefield and allow us to cover more objectives faster, catch the enemy off guard, and provide that mobile advantage. The unmanned aerial systems—short, medium, and long-range—certainly give us an advantage in our reconnaissance efforts and our ability to synchronize our kill chain. We’ve also received equipment for counter-unmanned aerial systems, and those systems, you know, we’re still testing and developing. And then, of course, the advanced command and control systems that are so important for us to communicate on a 21st-century battlefield.

LTC Vonnie Wright: Carley, did you have a follow-up, or was that part of your follow-up that you asked?

Carley Welch (Breaking Defense): Yeah, that was part of it. Thank you.

COL Arthur Moore: Absolutely.

LTC Vonnie Wright: Gina from AUSA, did you have a question for the team, ma’am?

Gina Cavallaro (AUSA): Yes, um, thank you for providing this opportunity. Um, there is so much going on in the brigade. Um, I think I’d like to know something about how it’s affecting the soldiers. I know there are some MOS’s that are either coming in or going away, or units that are being deactivated and others that are maybe taking in some of those soldiers. Can you talk about the personnel, how becoming a Mobile Brigade Combat Team has been for the soldiers? And please identify yourself when you answer. Thank you.

MAJ Jason Simulcik: Good afternoon, ma’am. Major Jason Simulcik, brigade S1. First and foremost, proactive personnel management led to increased retention as a matter of messaging early on that the transformation to a Mobile Brigade Combat Team did not mean that soldiers were losing their relevance to the formation, and that they would have a future home in the Virginia National Guard and the Army at large. So, the biggest change was a lot of our 19 Delta soldiers were transitioned over to 11 Bravo, which was supported by enterprise policy that allowed for a smooth transition through the Maneuver Center of Excellence that minimized the training required for that transition and allowed the soldiers to integrate seamlessly into either our infantry battalions or into our newly constructed multi-function reconnaissance company. Likewise, our brigade engineer battalion is being deactivated. However, 12-series opportunities still exist in the Virginia Army National Guard, so we were able to do one of two things with those soldiers, and that was to either integrate them into the newly created combat engineer company infantry or to realign them with other engineer formations across the Virginia National Guard.

Gina Cavallaro (AUSA): Okay, thank you. And as a follow-up, um, you mentioned the multi-functional reconnaissance company. Could someone on the team describe how that company came together and what their function is? How do they operate, and what are their capabilities? Thank you.

LTC Jonathan Cochran: Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Cochran, I’m the 1st Battalion Commander. The multi-functional reconnaissance company falls under me. So, that company, we took the best of our cavalry squadron and put those personnel in this company. And right now, it has four platoons: it has a kind of traditional infantry scout platoon, an effects or weapons platoon that has small UASs along with some other specialized equipment, an electronic warfare platoon, and then a UAS platoon that will have short, medium, and long-range UASs. And, you know, we task-organize them for the mission. But their primary purpose is to answer battlefield requirements for the brigade commander. And then we’ve task-organized them into hunter-killer elements so that they can find, fix, and finish enemy in the brigade’s deep area, or in the area that’s past what the normal front line is.

LTC Vonnie Wright: Thank you, Gina. Just going to move on to John Goheen from the National Guard Association. Do you have a question, sir?

John Goheen (NGAUS): I do. I look at the makeup of a Mobile Brigade Combat Team, and Colonel Moore, I’m curious, when you went through the exportable exercise to get ready for this particular rotation, you had a very different unit with very different equipment. How much of a challenge was it in a short period of time to get ready, and is this new unit ready for the challenges of JRTC?

COL Arthur Moore: Yes, good question. It is a challenge to make this transition in 18 months. It just required a lot of time and effort from our soldiers, their families, their employers, their communities, our state staff, and really the National Guard Bureau supporting us with extra funding and extra resources. So, while it was a challenge, the soldiers were excited to be on the cutting edge of modernization and really stepped up to the challenge. And we’re proud of them and for all the support that got us through this transition.

LTC Vonnie Wright: And John, did you have a follow-up?

John Goheen (NGAUS): I do have a follow-up. I know JRTC is a place to make mistakes and learn from them, but I would imagine, Colonel, it gave you an opportunity to see the potential of the Mobile Brigade Combat Team. What is the potential of this particular unit on the battlefield of the future?

COL Arthur Moore: Yeah, the experience at the Joint Readiness Training Center really highlighted the potential as we recentralize more capabilities at the division level and allow our brigade combat teams to focus on the tactical fight with the right capabilities, like we mentioned before: the expanded battlefield, the ISR capabilities, more lethal capabilities, electronic warfare, unmanned aerial systems, advanced command and control. I think the potential is there, and especially if we can get the rest of the 25 of 27 National Guard brigades modernized, then we’ll be right there ready to contribute alongside our active component counterparts in the joint fight in large-scale combat operations.

LTC Vonnie Wright: Thank you, John. Lisbeth from MeriTalk, did you have a question for the team, ma’am?

Lisbeth Perez (MeriTalk): Yes, hi. Thank you for putting this together. Um, I know you all touched a little bit on one of the challenges you had. Could you talk a little bit more about lessons learned or other challenges you had along the way?

LTC Vonnie Wright: Could you repeat that, ma’am? I’m sorry about that.

Lisbeth Perez (MeriTalk): Oh, I was just trying to get a little bit of insight on maybe some other challenges you guys had along the way.

COL Arthur Moore: I mean, anytime that you’re deactivating units, activating new units, re-stationing units, and soldiers moving to new formations as older formations become less relevant and newer formations take on more relevance, you know, there’s going to be some challenges with that. And we’ve had to just exercise the change management, put soldiers first, giving them the opportunities, and make sure that they know that the Army still has opportunities for them. You know, no soldier is losing their job through this modernization. Everyone has opportunities to continue to serve and contribute to the joint force.

LTC Vonnie Wright: Hi Lisbeth, did you have a follow-up to that, ma’am?

Lisbeth Perez (MeriTalk): No, no follow-ups. Thank you.

LTC Vonnie Wright: Thank you. Michael Metz from the National Guard, do you have a question, sir?

Michael Metz (National Guard): No, sir. I’m just here to learn some more. Thank you.

LTC Vonnie Wright: All right. John Harper from Defense Scoop, did you have a question, sir?

Jon Harper (Defense Scoop): Uh, yes, thank you. Um, I was wondering if you could talk a more about the advanced C2 capabilities that you mentioned, maybe give some specific examples of what those are and kind of how you use those in the recent exercises.

COL Arthur Moore: Yeah, one of the things we’re trying to do is use new technology to improve our ability to improve our common operating picture and our common intelligence picture. And that’s getting digital systems to lower levels, down to platoons and companies, and just improve the way that different command posts communicate with each other, from the company command posts to the battalion command posts to the brigade, and then from the brigade to the division. And it’s all about improving situational awareness, improving and lowering the speed of the kill chain, being able to identify the enemy and get effects on target as quickly as possible.

LTC Vonnie Wright: All right, John, did you have a follow-up for that, sir?

Jon Harper (Defense Scoop): Uh, yes. Um, I was wondering, you know, you mentioned the UAS that you’ve been using, and I was wondering if those are all ISR drones or if, you know, some of them are kind of the one-way attack drones or, you know, lethal loitering munition type weapons.

COL Arthur Moore: Yeah, that’s a good question. All of the above. We’re fielding and experimenting with all of those.

Jon Harper (Defense Scoop): Are there sort of specific systems that you’re able to talk about, you know, the sort of brand or manufacturer or anything like that, just, you know, like the names of some of the systems, just for examples?

1LT (P) Adam Mayers: Yeah, hey, absolutely, sir. This is Lieutenant Adam Mayers, the brigade assistant operations officer. So, for short-range reconnaissance, we’re using a combination of two Teal platforms: the Teal Black Widow and the Teal 2. We use these down at the platoon level, including platoons in our sustainment formations as well, not just our maneuver formations. Then our multi-functional reconnaissance company employs Anduril Ghost Xs with the Lattice OS, as well as Performance Drone Works C100s. And then, of course, in an environment where we’re rapidly fielding equipment, trying to be faster than our pacing threats, some things aren’t going to make it in time. So, our long-range reconnaissance platform, we actually partnered with industry for a contractor-owned, contractor-operated service contract for a Redwire VXE-30 or Block 30 that we used at the Joint Readiness Training Center to provide brigade-level ISR and answer really important information requirements for the brigade commander. And then Switchblades—we’re using the AeroVironment Switchblade. We’ve had an opportunity to live-fire four of those rounds and really work with loitering munitions and understand what the limitations and capabilities there are. And then we’re looking forward to first-person view drone fieldings from a lot of different funding sources and programs in the Army. And we just stood up a 3D printing lab at Fort Pickett, Virginia, to fabricate our own FPV drones.

Jon Harper (Defense Scoop): Great, thank you.

LTC Vonnie Wright: All right, um, before I go back around and see if there are any follow-ups, I just wanted to mention that while this unit was modernizing, at the same time they still had national and federal missions to take care of. They were also citizen-soldiers, so there is also a special citizen-soldier effect that only they know and they have because they do work with different industries and they have some technical expertise. So, if anyone around the room wanted to magnify and give the reporters just a little bit of a lens on what makes your citizen-soldiers a little bit more special and how that gave you a modernization advantage against some of us active soldier guys, is there anyone that could speak to that a little bit about the special expertise of the civilian workers you have and how they were able to effectively modernize and how it was a little bit different?

1LT (P) Adam Mayers: Yeah, hey, this is Lieutenant Adam Mayers again. I’d love to start this one and then hand it off to some of the battalion commanders and NCOs in the room with us here. In April, Colonel Moore mentioned that we did a multi-domain operations live-fire exercise. That multi-domain word gets thrown around a lot in modernization, but we were the first Guard unit to actually be able to use some civilian expertise in both intelligence collection and information technology. So, as an example, we had a soldier at our multi-domain live-fire with our MFRC, but on the brigade staff, who was able to leverage his experience as a penetration tester from Microsoft. And what he was able to do was localized offensive cyber operations on what we had designed as an enemy network. And what he did was he used some Linux tools to capture the password of that network, log on to that network, and start shutting off ATAK devices we had put on that network kind of playing bad guy. And what that does is it herded the communications from digital to voice, where our soldiers with some of that intelligence collection and IP background in the MFRC were then able to use our new electromagnetic warfare systems—our Terrestrial Layer System Manpack (TLS Manpack)—to engage in some pretty cool training that then enabled some reconnaissance and maneuver formations to use drones and actually conduct a live-fire exercise. And then throughout all of this, we were able to adjudicate or replicate some joint and division effects using a soldier we’ve got that works for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, kind of giving our MFRC and our brigade staff a sense of multi-domain operations where there are a lot of contiguous and non-contiguous fights happening everywhere from space down to land, sea, air, understanding we might not always have an opportunity to exploit gains or conduct maneuver, but here are the conditions in which we would be able to when joint effects are happening, when cyber effects are happening. And the Army’s got a lot of great programs going on for that, but it was our unique civilian experience that enabled us to figure that out, and thankfully we figured that out before we went to the Joint Readiness Training Center. That’s all I’ve got. Anybody in the room, any leaders have any examples?

MAJ Jason Simulcik: I’ll just piggyback on that a little bit. Again, Major Simulcik, brigade S1. What we’re really talking about here is the concept of the Guard’s advantage. The National Guard is enhancing Army innovation and modernization by leveraging the unique civilian technical expertise, professional networks, and diverse backgrounds of its dual-status soldiers. What this does is that the civilian careers in technology, intelligence, logistics, emergency management, and industry help bridge commercial innovation into military capability.

LTC Vonnie Wright: All right, thank you for that. Carley, did you have another question that you might want to ask?

Carley Welch (Breaking Defense): Yeah, just following up on the specific systems that were used. You all talked about, you know, the Black Widow, the Ghost X, the AV Switchblade. Was there anything that, you know, you all tried for the first time that you specifically thought, ‘Oh, this is a great system, like we could really use this,’ and then on the flip side, something that perhaps you didn’t see as useful?

LTC Michael Moynahan: This is Lieutenant Colonel Michael Moynahan with the 1-149th. So, speaking specifically for the Teal model Black Widow, my battalion was fielded 19 of those systems previous to the Joint Readiness Training exercise. Got to use those. It really gave us an enhanced capability we did not have, specifically with reconnaissance. So, putting the sensors out in front of our formations, allowing us to see what the enemy threat would be 3 and 4 kilometers in front of the front line of troops. That was something that we had not really been able to do prior to the Joint Readiness Training exercise. In addition, the capability of being able to call for fire—so fire our mortar systems—using that UAS to lase targets and then call for fire with our battalion mortars and, in some cases, our company mortar systems, really, again, another increased asset that we did not have prior to transformation. And so that was a big win for us down at JRTC.

LTC Vonnie Wright: Carley, did you have a follow-up to that?

Carley Welch (Breaking Defense): Yeah, just a quick one, and I don’t know if you all can speak to this, but, you know, given that the 116th was the first MBCT to, you know, take part in transformation in contact, I’m just kind of curious why the 116th was the first. You know, is there any kind of outstanding qualities that the greater Army saw that, you know, really wanted to outfit this team out of all of them?

CSM Benzie Timberlake: So, I’ll start this one off. I’m Command Sergeant Major Benzie Timberlake. And first and foremost, I believe we were chosen for this because we are the best brigade in the United States Army National Guard. Anyone else wants to follow up on there?

COL Arthur Moore: No, I think that, you know, selecting units for modernization and the timelines, we’re balancing timing, real-world missions, and our brigade was postured well with an XCTC rotation followed by a JRTC rotation the following summer that really allows us to field the equipment and test it in those environments, and then really put us in a position where we can translate those lessons learned to the brigades that will follow us so that the brigades modernizing behind us can learn our lessons and build on our lessons learned and have a smoother process.

Carley Welch (Breaking Defense): Okay, thank you.

LTC Vonnie Wright: Gina from AUSA, did you have another question you wanted to ask based off of the dialogue, ma’am?

Gina Cavallaro (AUSA): Yes, um, thank you. A couple of things. Maybe Colonel Moore and whoever else on the team. How, over the 18 months when you were building up your capabilities as a mobile team, how often did you consult with or work with commanders of other brigades in the active duty component that had also made that transition? And my follow-up is, could you tell me what’s next for your brigade? How are you going to remain ready, and when do you have your next collective training event? Thank you.

LTC Michael Moynahan: This is Lieutenant Colonel Michael Moynahan. So, speaking specifically for the battalion in Kentucky, we’ve got habitual relationships with the 101st Airborne Division there in Kentucky at Fort Campbell. And so, as soon as we knew we were going to be going through the transformation process, we knew we had a second brigade from the 101st that was also had been through transformation. So, we made contact with them, started to share lessons learned, you know, things that were working for them that we could apply as we began to receive equipment and go through some of the transformation initiatives. So, that was a good source of information, and they’re right there close to us in state.

LTC Jonathan Cochran: And this is Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Cochran. Um, so the Joint Readiness Training Center, it’s not a surprise test. We don’t just arrive there and don’t know what we’re about to see. The team there did a really good job in prepping us for the fight that we were at. So, they sent us lessons learned, they sent us techniques and procedures from the former brigades on how they configured their ISVs, how they loaded their soldiers and their equipment on it, so that we were kind of starting, you know, one foot forward as soon as we got to Fort Polk.

COL Arthur Moore: And then I’ll just close that with, yeah, at the brigade level, we all brigade commanders work together through this modernization. You know, I worked closely with Dave Womack, 25th Infantry Division, Josh Kozlov, 10th Mountain Division, to learn the lessons that they learned and get different equipment that they were purchasing and experimenting with and how that might enhance our journey.

Gina Cavallaro (AUSA): Okay, and Colonel Moore, what’s coming up for the brigade in the coming year? Thank you.

COL Arthur Moore: Yeah, we just completed our high state of readiness coming out of the Joint Readiness Training Center. We’re ready for any federal or state mission that the Army might ask of us. And then it’s just refining all those lessons learned from the Joint Readiness Training Center with regard to improving our performance and our capabilities across all of the warfighting functions: maneuver, intelligence, command and control, fires, sustainment, protection. We’ll have, you know, continued drill weekends and annual trainings that test and train those capabilities. And then we still have some additional fieldings as well, as mentioned: the long-range reconnaissance drone that we did a contractor-owned, contractor-operated effort there at the Joint Readiness Training Center. We’ll get those long-range reconnaissance drones fielded this month, as well as more advanced command and control systems, and then continuing to conduct live-fire exercises at Fort Pickett and take advantage of opportunities to train with our foreign partners in both Virginia and Kentucky.

Gina Cavallaro (AUSA): Great, thank you very much.

LTC Vonnie Wright: John Goheen from the National Guard Association, did you have another question, sir?

John Goheen (NGAUS): I do, and this is for the battalion commanders. I know you had the ISVs for a few months now. What surprised you about the troops’ use of the ISVs? What did you learn about the ISV as your source of mobility in the fight?

LTC Jonathan Cochran: Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Cochran here. So, we were actually really surprised on how quickly the soldiers took to them. Everyone says it’s the frame of a Chevy Colorado, and that’s truly it. And these are some extremely capable trucks because they have a lot of power and they’re light. So, we’re able to take them places that we could have never imagined taking a Humvee. They definitely increased our mobility significantly. What used to take an entire day to move my battalion, I can now do in 2 to 3 hours, and my soldiers arrive ready to fight. It greatly increased our operational flexibility across the battlefield.

LTC Michael Moynahan: Yeah, this is Colonel Moynahan. I would just add to that, certainly it increased operational reach. Soldiers are taking to them really well. They understand what this vehicle is supposed to be. And so, what we’ve kind of learned is it can carry a lot of sustainment to the fight that we would not otherwise have. And so, another capability that we kind of learned throughout JRTC is it can be a non-standard CASEVAC vehicle. So, again, it gives you increased capability there for moving casualties back to your Role 1 and your Role 2 to increase survivability. So, it’s just a really simple vehicle to figure out how to drive, and it doesn’t get stuck very often, as we’ve tested down at the Joint Readiness Training Center.

John Goheen (NGAUS): As a follow-up, this is to both battalion commanders. I know at JRTC, as well as NTC, after every engagement there’s an AAR, and you get a chance to talk to the opposing force. What did they share with you that’s insightful that will help you in terms of your training plans for the future?

LTC Jonathan Cochran: I think what was significant for that was just our ability to see further than what our traditional scouts could see. So, this was less with the ISVs and more really using our different UAS systems. Traditionally, the scouts go out, and, you know, the OPFOR scouts are usually a little bit better than ours because they live there. But our UASs actually gave us a pretty decisive advantage, being able to project out 2 to 3 kilometers, find the enemy, and then call for fire, call for mortars on them, which really allowed us to keep momentum as we moved across the battlefield.

LTC Michael Moynahan: This is Colonel Moynahan. I would just add, I think it increased our ability to be flexible and move quicker. So, the, you know, one of the comments made is, you know, when you don’t have the ISV, you’re only moving as quick as your dismounted formation. So, the ISV gives you the ability to flex across the battlefield as you see the enemy situation develop and maneuver quicker to take advantage.

John Goheen (NGAUS): Thank you.

LTC Vonnie Wright: Lisbeth from MeriTalk, did you have another question, ma’am?

Lisbeth Perez (MeriTalk): No, no more questions. Thanks.

LTC Vonnie Wright: Thank you.

LTC Vonnie Wright: John Harper from Defense Scoop, did you have a question?

Jon Harper (Defense Scoop): Uh, yes. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about some of the specific counter-UAS systems that you’ve been using, and, you know, which ones you’ve found to be the most effective.

1LT (P) Adam Mayers: Hey, yes, sir. This is Lieutenant Adam Mayers again. So, specific systems that we were fielded and got some experience on at the Joint Readiness Training Center: the Smart Shooter SMASH, as well as the MyDefence Pitbull and Wingman—that’s a soldier-worn UAS detection and jamming system. And then down at JRTC, there are a number of training equipment sets that we can fall in on and use, and we did: Dronebusters, Stingers, and then we were even able to use our Mastodon TLS Manpacks—that’s the Terrestrial Layer System Manpack—to do some drone detection.

And I think where we’re really seeing a lot of success is in those electromagnetic warfare systems, where we know, and soldiers know, or a command post knows, that a drone is coming before they ever have to see or hear it. And that’s what’s really important for this protection bubble that we are trying to create as an MBCT to maneuver these very dismounted and survivable sensors and shooters across the battle space against a pacing threat, is knowing that something is coming before we ever have to see it, or hear it, or shoot it down kinetically. Just affecting its ability to fly at all, I think, is where we’re seeing the most success. That’s my perspective. We’ve got a number of NCOs and great leaders in the room who can speak to what their soldiers saw as well.

John Harper (Defense Scoop): John, did you have a follow-up to that?

Jon Harper (Defense Scoop): Which of those systems that you mentioned would you expect to be organic to your unit, you know, if you were deployed overseas? I know you kind of just, you know, recently experimented with those at that rotation, but I was wondering which systems, you know, you would kind of expect at this point, if you did get deployed overseas, to be able to take with you.

COL Arthur Moore: Yeah, I think it’s all mission-dependent. You know, different missions will require different capabilities, and certainly depending on, you know, where units are deployed, they may receive more equipment than what we tested.

 Jon Harper (Defense Scoop): Right, thank you.

LTC Vonnie Wright: All right, team. We’re just about running out of time. I was going to allow the brigade commander to close us out. Is there anything you want to impress upon the team here, sir, as a closing statement that you’d like to have, sir?

COL Arthur Moore: Yes, just thanks everybody for participating. We really appreciate you engaging with us and your interest in Army modernization and our experience here at the 116th. And so, it’s been a pleasure, and thank you for the thoughtful questions, and look forward to any follow-up that you might have.

LTC Vonnie Wright: All right, team. All the media on the line, appreciate you for coming. Thanks a lot. If, of course, you have any other follow-up questions or queries, please feel free to reach out to me or ACOO as a whole, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. Thanks so much for coming. I appreciate it.

Source: United States Army

Back to 

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

VICENZA, Italy — Soldiers from U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), the 173rd Mobile Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 207th Military Intelligence Brigade (Theater), and 509th Signal Battalion, 2d Theater Signal Brigade, competed for the titles of Noncommissioned Officer of the Year and Soldier of the Year during SETAF-AF’s annual competition at Caserma Del Din, July 16, 2026.

The competition brought together three NCOs and three junior enlisted Soldiers selected by their commands to demonstrate excellence in physical fitness, tactical proficiency, military knowledge and leadership. Throughout the event, competitors faced a series of rigorous evaluations designed to identify the command’s top performers while reinforcing the Army’s commitment to readiness and professional excellence.

“When I was a young Soldier, we just did the knowledge board, but there was no way to test your physical capabilities, your tactical capabilities and how you implemented those two into any kind of scenario,” said U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Chad B. Harness, senior enlisted advisor, SETAF-AF. “The goal is that we actually test you and see where you stand as a Soldier or as a noncommissioned officer to determine whether or not we have the best person.”

The competition began with the Expert Physical Fitness Assessment, requiring competitors to complete a demanding sequence of events while wearing operational camouflage pattern uniforms, helmets, eye protection, gloves and plate carriers. The assessment included two one-mile runs separated by functional fitness tasks, including dead-stop pushups, a 100-meter sprint, sandbag lifts, a farmer carry, a high crawl and three-to-five-second rushes.

“The experiences that helped me the most are definitely the training I’ve received from when I was a junior enlisted Soldier on weapons systems and physical fitness and just being able to rely on those level-10 skills,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Nathan Newton, an infantryman assigned to the 173rd MBCT.

Following the physical assessment, competitors demonstrated their tactical proficiency during Expert Soldier Badge and Expert Infantryman Badge lanes. Graders evaluated each participant on weapons handling, including clearing, disassembling, assembling and conducting function checks on the M4 carbine, M249 squad automatic weapon and M17 pistol.

“This competition differs from my daily life because, as someone who works in geo-intelligence, I’m usually working with information systems and computers,” said U.S. Army Pfc. Logan Doll, a geospatial engineer with the 517th Geospatial Planning Cell, Intelligence and Sustainment Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, SETAF-AF. “Working with weapon systems, physical tests, writing essays and doing boards are all things that I don’t do in my daily job.”

The competition then shifted from physical performance to intellectual and leadership challenges. Competitors completed a 50-question written examination before writing an essay on contemporary Army leadership topics, including professional military education requirements and balancing garrison responsibilities with combat readiness.

“The toughest part of the competition was definitely the essay,” Newton said. “It was a lot to think through in a limited amount of time, but I relied on the knowledge I’d gained from my leaders and my own experiences to work through it.”

The final event placed competitors before a formal board of senior leaders while wearing the Army Green Service Uniform. Board members assessed military knowledge, communication skills, leadership philosophy and decision-making under pressure.

“I’d say the board was the toughest part of the competition,” Doll said. “I’d never appeared before a board at that high of a level, and it was stressful, but studying with my NCOs and preparing beforehand helped me be ready.”

At the conclusion of the competition, Newton was named the command’s 2026 Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, while Doll earned the title of 2026 SETAF-AF Soldier of the Year.

“Being named SETAF-AF Soldier of the Year means a lot to me because everything I’d done leading up to this competition helped prepare me for it,” Doll said. “It was a test of my abilities, and earning this title showed me I could perform under pressure.”

Harness congratulated all six competitors, emphasizing that every Soldier who volunteered demonstrated the initiative and professionalism expected of Army leaders.

“I’m very proud of the units that were represented today, but we can only have one winner for each category,” Harness said. “For the NCOs, this should be the sharpening of your skills because that’s what we do, we sharpen each other. And for every competitor, simply having the courage to step forward and compete says a lot about your character.”

The annual competition showcased the physical readiness, tactical proficiency and leadership required of today’s Soldiers while reinforcing SETAF-AF’s commitment to developing adaptive, disciplined professionals prepared to meet future operational challenges.

“I believe this competition makes us better by showing that there is a standard and you should always try to exceed it in all aspects, whether it’s physical fitness, weapons handling, general knowledge or leadership,” Newton said. “You should always try to improve yourself, and I want someone to try and beat me.”

About SETAF-AF

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) prepares Army forces, executes crisis response, enables strategic competition and strengthens partners to achieve U.S. Army Europe and Africa and U.S. Africa Command campaign objectives.

Follow SETAF-AF on DVIDS.