1-1 Cavalry troopers put miles under Bradleys' tracks

BABADAG, Romania — Soldiers with the 1st Armored Division's 1st Squadron, 1st U.S. Cavalry Regiment are waiting to go home.

Bandit Troop's Bradley crewmembers and two of their fighting vehicles are just days away from completing their four-month-long mission.

"We drew the vehicles in April," said Army Capt. Shawn McManamy, the squadron's operations officer.

These four Bradley Fighting Vehicles underwent several missions throughout Europe as part of the U.S. Army Europe's Immediate Reaction Force.

"The whole purpose of the IRF mission is to provide the USAEUR commander with a flexible combat-ready force capable of deploying anywhere in the USAUER area of responsibility on short notice to respond to a variety of situations," McManamy said.

Before the combat-ready 1/1 CAV "Bandits" can deploy, their equipment must undergo functional checks to ensure their reliability throughout the exercises.

"The first mission we did was a validation exercise," McManamy said. "This consists of drawing equipment and maintenance checks."

In May, after completing preventative maintenance checks and services on the "borrowed" vehicles, the crew prepared for their next mission: a month long series of exercises taking place at the Combat Maneuver Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany.

"We then moved the equipment out for a CMTC rotation in June in support of 1st Brigade," McManamy said. "We were there for about five exercise days in which time we conducted a series of missions. We did a whole spectrum of operations from high-intensity to low-intensity."

Then it was back on the road for the Bandits. However, instead of hauling the vehicles on flat-bed trucks or railcars, they drove directly to their next assignment.

"We went straight from CMTC to Grafenwöher," McManamy said. "We actually road marched the vehicles from Hohenfels to Grafenwöher to include the tracks. This was the first time in a long time that the track vehicles have been road marched like that."

Joining the rest of the squadron at "Graf," the crews took their adopted Bradleys to the qualification ranges where they took on a series of tests known as Gunnery Tables.

"Gunnery was my favorite," said Army gunner Spec. Benjamin Webb. "Table VIII qualification is like going to the World Series. It's the big day we wait for after preparing for a month."

After completing the mission in Grafenwöher, the Bradley crew returned their vehicles and equipment back to the warehouse at the Rein Ordinance Barracks, located near Kaiserslautern.

"Only a couple weeks later, we were drawing them again and heading to Bulgaria," McManamy said.