By Melissa Buckley, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (March 12, 2026) – More than 200 airmen training with the U.S. Air Force’s 368th Training Squadron spent Feb. 27 at Fort Leonard Wood learning about unmanned aerial systems during an exercise designed to cultivate Air Force Airmindedness and Warrior Ethos.

The 368th Training Squadron, based at Fort Leonard Wood, provides initial skills and advanced level training in the areas of ground transportation, engineering, emergency management, and pavements and construction equipment.

According to Air Force Tech Sgt. Christopher Moss, Pavements and Equipment Apprentice Course instructor, the Air Force Specialty Code schools at Fort Leonard Wood’s Air Force squadron usually train separately, but this day was unique because it brought them all together.

“It allows them to integrate with our other schoolhouses, bringing them together as one force instead of each person learning just their craft,” Moss said. “Producing more well-rounded airmen for the force.”

Air Force Capt. Nathan Elking, 368th Training Squadron director of operations, said the detachment calls the unique training event BRACER FORGE, which stands for Basic Reinforcement Agile Combat Employment Range Forward Operations Readiness Generation Exercise.

“It is a continuation of the training airmen receive at basic training named Primary Agile Combat Employment Range Forward Operations Readiness Generation Exercise, or PACER FORGE. Both exercise initiatives are designed to instill airmindedness and warrior ethos in our airmen,” Elking said.

The squadron’s BRACER FORGE topics vary, but the current UAS focus was driven by the unit’s AFSCs, which according to Elking play a key role in airfield damage assessment and rapid airfield damage recovery.

“Before each iteration of BRACER FORGE, we provide the participating airmen with an operation order for the day and reporting instructions with a training scenario to recover a damaged airfield” Elking said.

Squadron instructors prepared four stations for the airmen to rotate through.

At the airfield damage assessment challenge, Elking said teams conducted an airfield damage assessment on a simulated airfield and relayed the information to their teammates in an emergency operations center.

“The airmen in the EOC were tasked with creating a map of the airfield using the details their counterparts called in over the radio,” Elking said.

While at the UAS reporting challenge, teams established defensive fighting positions and reported UAS activity to their teammates in the EOC.

“They were tasked with consolidating that information into a report to send up,” Elking said.

The other two stations were a high intensity physical fitness event and a UAS capabilities overview. Soldiers from the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Combat Training Company supplied that UAS portion of training.

“We are not subject matter experts on counter UAS and UAS employment and being able to leverage our Army partners at MSCoE played a significant role in the exercise’s success,” Elking said.

According to Sgt. 1st Class Austin Priebe, Combat Training Company UAS chief, his mission with the airmen was to introduce small UAS threats, and teach the basics of identifying, reacting to and reporting small UAS threats.

Priebe said most trainees he instructs have watched or controlled a simulated UAS in video games, but being able to experience a UAS in person, see and hear a drone up close, is “essential to prepare service members for what they will see in current and future conflicts.”

“We conducted practical exercises on scanning for sUAS, completing a report and showed the airmen what they look like from an elevated viewpoint,” Priebe said.

This was the Combat Training Company’s first time facilitating interservice UAS training.

“I’ve largely been focused on enabling training and instruction to the Army units here on Fort Leonard Wood since the inception of our UAS program this past fall,” Priebe said.

“As the battlefield changes rapidly, so does our training requirements. If our organization can provide more realistic and in-depth training to our brothers and sisters in other branches, we only stand to benefit as a military.”

Priebe said his team is looking forward to conducting more interservice training events in the future.

At the end of the day, BRACER FORGE was a catalyst for innovation, according to Elking.

“By exposing airmen to the dual nature of UASs – both as a threat to counter and a tool to master – we challenge them to rethink their mission sets and pioneer new solutions for the modern battlefield,” Elking said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About Fort Leonard Wood

Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 80 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains nearly 80,000 military and civilians each year.

Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.

Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.