British, French, U.S. commands prepare for Warfighter 21-4 exercise

April 2 (UPI) -- Warfighter 21-4, a corps-level combat exercise starting April 6, will involve U.S., French and British troops, a U.S. Army press release said this week.

The 10-day exercise will involve a simulation of a battle with U.S., U.K. and French Army tactical divisions, with thousands of troops and support personnel participating at multiple installations, including Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Bragg, N.C., and Grafenwoehr, Germany.

The emphasis will be on interoperability, as British and French forces working within a U.S. corps.

The combined formations will be integrated at the brigade-level with a British brigade operating within a U.S. division, and U.S. brigade combat teams in British and French divisions.

"There's a joint vision statement between the Chief of the General Staff, head of the U.K. Army, and the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army that will see us be interoperable by 2025," Maj. Gen. Mike Elviss, commander of the 3rd U.K. Division commander, said this week in a press release.

"What that means is we would place a British division under command of a U.S. corps and a British brigade under command of a U.S. division. The Warfighter [exercise] is the preeminent exercise [for training]," Elviss said.

Warfighter 21-4 is the largest Mission Command Training Program exercise in 35 years, officials said, and troops of the three participating countries have been planning and preparing for the event for months.

"We've had eight months of training before coming to Texas, especially at the divisional level," said Maj. Gen. Laurent Michon, commander of the 3rd French Division.

"Such an exercise as the Warfighter is wonderful to gain time and to learn much. It is hard training, so it is very good for high intensity conflicts," Michon said.

The exercise is a simulation to test readiness for unified, high-intensity conflict, and is designed to gauge integration of British, French and U.S. divisions.

When the event was announced in November 2020, Maj. Gen. Michel Delion said "it's much better to have a single view" of a battle, adding that "military force is coming back to settle conflicts," noting other war theaters such as disinformation and cyber disruptions.

He added that a goal of the French army, with combat experience in the Middle East and in Africa, is a "battle-hardened" force by 2035.

Fort Hood has been readied as a tactical corps command site for the exercise.