Posted on Jun 23, 2015
For those stationed at Fort Irwin, 11th ACR, what was a typical month for an infantryman?
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I'm pcsing here soon and want to hear what the Fort Irwin infantryman were doing while they were out here. I'm aware there's OPFOR rotations (18 days), foreign vehicles, and miles of desert. Leaders feel free to lend your voice to this discussion.
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 17
Irwin is the best kept secret in the Army if you are compatible with or can adapt to the isolation. Successive OPFOR training missions conducted simultaneously alongside of BLUFOR training missions increase the stress level of Iron Horse and Eagle Horse soldiers. The stress level for all training missions resemble a pulse on a medical monitor. I spent some of my long recovery weekends on the beach in Coronado, Santa Barbara, Temecula, and the Bay Area. On the long weekends I did not travel, I spent hours in the Barnes and Noble in Victorville or just driving in the desert. The drive to Vegas is particularly memorable: for miles the brown desert consumes four lane I 15. Stop in Baker at the Mad Greek for a gyro and a milkshake, play cards in Primm, and continue on into Vegas for the shows. You'll see I 15 open up a few miles after Primm and the road descends into Sin City. It's kinda awesome. For someone like me, that drive never gets old.
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CPT (Join to see)
I used to hear stories about the pass that connected the box to the Mad Greek! I think command cracked down on humvee traffic going to and from.
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CPT (Join to see)
SSG (Join to see) - I didn't actually have command at Irwin, but thanks for the vote of confidence!
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1LT (Join to see)
CPT (Join to see) sir the pass you're referring to, I'm pretty confident the OC/Ts still utilize. Don't know what else could be happening that far East on non-live fire training days
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SSG Greg Miech
California is also building a railway from LA to Vegas as the highway is well clogged.
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The rotations as I remember there is RSOI week and that is getting everything ready, then rollout either Thursday or Friday. The first week of training is all STX so there is opportunity to come in at night, also when there is a Suspension of Battlefield Effects (SOBE). The second week is force on force and out the whole time. 1/11 and 2/11 switch off as leads for the rotation but augment from the non-lead unit. So it's 19 days straight of work then a 2 day weekend come back for 2.5 days to do recovery and such then off for the 4 day. There are 10 rotations a year, nothing in December and either June or July. Fort Irwin is 35 miles from the nearest "town" but 70 miles from the nearest REAL town. LA, Las Vegas, and San Diego are all roughly 2-3 houra away. San Francisco is 6-7 hours. In the early spring you can go to the beach in San Diego or go snowboarding at Big Bear. You have the best of everything as long as you are willing to travel. Living on post isn't bad, I could go a month on one fill up if I never left post. In the end it is what you make of it that will make you happy or miserable. Hope this helps.
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1LT (Join to see)
Many of the RTU BDEs coming through now skip the CO/BN level STX and roll straight into Force-on-Force. When that happens it's usually 11 days of FoF followed by a couple days of live fire. All depends on the BDE's desired training intent, we're here to support whatever/wherever/and for however long.
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I was stationed there for 35 months (not as an 11B) it is in the middle of nowhere. You have to drive 30 minutes to the nearest town (Barstow), an hour drive to the nearest mall (Victorville), 1.5 hours from Las Vegas and 2.5 hours to LA. Either you like it or hate it and make sure that you have either Verizon, AT&T or Sprint cell phone service.
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1LT William Clardy
SSG (Join to see), I remember tracking the daily temps in Barstow during my first stint in Baghdad, and there was never more than a degree (maybe two) of difference between the highs in Barstow and Baghdad.
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SGT Thomas Lucken
1LT William Clardy - In 1991, I got to go TDY to the big desert from Irwin for a month!
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1LT William Clardy
SSG (Join to see), also remember that the 2.5 inches of average annual rainfall tends to come in a single storm. I remember sandbagging the entrances to the barracks to keep them from flooding that day.
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LTC Jason Mackay
SSG (Join to see) if you live on post, I would manage your wife's expectations now, especially if she is from LA County or Northern CA, San Bernardino even. Unless she is from the Yermo-Barstow-Daggett metroplex or the Irwin burbs of Victorville-Hesperia-Apple Valley there will be some system shock. Once you cross the Phase Line of the Cajon Pass, different worlds. Not bad, just different. My wife is from Hesperia, so they will never send me back there.
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