NY Army National Guard Soldiers heading to Fort Irwin, California to serve as " Opposing Force"

LATHAM, NY (07/15/2025) (readMedia)-- Two hundred and forty-six New York Army National Guard Soldiers will be heading to Fort Irwin, California, the home of the Army's National Training Center in the Mojave Desert this week starting on July 15, 2025.

The Soldiers will be serving along side members of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment as the training center's opposing force or "OPFOR."

At the National Training Center an Army brigade of 3,000 to 5,000 Soldiers is pitted against the OPFOR in combat war games designed to test their ability to fight and win.

All the actions of the simulated battle are tracked, and the Soldiers and their leaders learn what they did right or wrong during after action reviews.

The New York Soldiers are coming from:

Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, based at Camp Smith Training Site in Cortlandt Manor;

Bravo Battery of the 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery, located at the Jamaica Armory in Queens,

The Electronic Warfare Platoon of the 152nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, which is located at Hancock Field Air National Guard in Syracuse.

The units are all part of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which has elements across New York.

Bravo Battery is equipped with six 105 millimeter M114 howitzers.

The 100 Artillery Soldiers will conduct some live fire training prior to the start of the war game.

Once that begins, they will be conducting simulated missions, according to Capt. Greg Cheung, the Bravo Battery commander.

Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry is a light infantry company.

The New York National Guard Soldiers will be "fighting" against members of the Florida Army National Guard's 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

They will be "in the box", actively participating in the war games, from July 25 to August 3.

The Soldiers are expected to be back in New York by August 8.