CAMP DAWSON, W.Va. The West Virginia National Guard and the Irregular Warfare Center are conducting a major exercise with two training goals.
On MetroNews “Talkline,” West Virginia National Guard Adjutant General Bill Crane said Ridge Runner trains soldiers on how to conduct operations in potentially contested areas, and Ridge Healer trains soldiers on how to perform critical medical procedures behind enemy lines without normal facilities.
In Ridge Runner, special operators are infiltrating communities across the state in the scenario where they are being attacked by a larger force. The operators have to determine who is on their side and help them while gaining information about the opposing force and determining who is supporting them.
“We also have a lane we’re running down in South Carolina in the Myrtle Beach area because we had some guys that wanted to exercise infiltrating in a maritime location,” Crane said.
The “closed” exercise has a self-contained internet with social media, so the “players” can understand the impact of their operations through news reports and posts by people on the “closed” social media platforms. The teams are given an initial order and must adjust the operations in each area based on the evolving operation as they see it.
“It really gives them instant feedback as they’re doing the exercise, so we don’t pause,” Crane said. “It is what it is; they have to learn as they go, and that’s the real world.”
Ridge Healer is also happening alongside and trains soldiers to conduct important critical medical care without normal facilities. Environments like Ukraine and even operations in Gaza provide little opportunities to ferry casualties from the battlefield, so many must be treated where they are.
“We’re not going to be able to move people as quickly as we did in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Crane said. “So in that golden hour we’ve talked about, getting someone back to a critical care unit is going to take longer, so we have to help them survive longer.”
As part of the medical portion of the exercise, Crane said they have a doctor who has served in Ukraine who will show them techniques they’ve used in actual battlefield conditions.
“We have one of the doctors that has been over there helping to do surgeries in the basement and how to set that up,” Crane said.
The purpose of the operation is to assess the operational capabilities of our forces, the command elements, and allies like Poland. Crane said he trained and met with high-level members of the Polish military at previous training events and meetings.
“We know who they are, we know their structure, and we know the leaders,” Crane said. “I have met with General Kukula, and he’s now the Chief of Staff for all the forces in Poland.”