How America Works (2021) s03e04 Episode Script
Army
1
- Since the signing of the
Declaration of Independence,
over one third of
America's presidents
have been admitted into
a very exclusive club.
I'm not talking about the
Skull and Bones Society
or the Free Masons
or the Bohemian Club.
This club is not nearly
as discriminating
or exclusive as those.
It's members, however, do
have to pay their dues.
In fact, more than
a few have died
as a result of being
admitted to this club.
I refer, of course, to a club
we call, "The
United States Army."
Though it's been a while
since a president
has worn the uniform,
I suspect we'll see it again.
I hope so anyway,
because no other
club in this country
is as good at preparing
our elected officials
for a lifetime of
service than the US Army.
Tonight, our cameras
go behind the walls
of Fort Carson in
Colorado Springs
to give you a look at who's
protecting this nation
and to show you what it takes
to serve in today's army.
Because if you don't
understand that,
you'll never understand
How America Works. (helicopter
propeller whirring)
(cannon exploding)
Since the first of
its members marched
under General George
Washington himself,
the United States Army has
evolved into thee most powerful
military branch on
the face of the earth,
seriously, by a lot.
Just look at the
stats on this outfit:
1.1 million soldiers,
200 installations worldwide,
6,000 tanks,
(tank firing)
1200 helicopters,
500 howitzers.
And all the guns, grenades,
(artillery barrage)
and other gadgets
the nation could need
to take decisive action
at home and overseas.
(bombs exploding)
It's a good thing
they're on our side.
But despite such a
comprehensive arsenal,
along with a fierce
devotion to their country,
the Army's greatest asset of all
may well be its training.
(gunfire)
That's why your typical soldier
will undergo months of it
before ever seeing combat.
(automatic gunfire)
And if they're lucky,
some of those soldiers will
earn their stripes here,
Fort Carson in Colorado Springs.
In a typical year,
this facility will train
more than 30,000 soldiers
with the skills needed
not just to survive,
but to win wars
the American way.
And it just so
happens that today,
they'll be conducting an
exercise unlike any before.
It's called, "Ivy Mass,"
where for the first
time in history,
an army division will
utilize assets on the ground,
in the air, in cyberspace
and actual space,
to take out enemy targets
scattered across the landscape,
about 50 of them in all.
It's the kind of training
that can make the difference
between life and death in
a real battle scenario.
And nobody knows that better
than Staff Sergeant
Seth Jackson.
(pulsing tense music begins)
- [Voice Over SSG]
When you are overseas
in a situation like this,
you are gonna be working
with all these joint forces.
And you have to be on top
of your game at all times,
because one person
can make a difference
between success or failure.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] It's true,
especially for guys like Seth,
because for this exercise,
he'll be acting as one of the
Army's 20+ Forward Observers,
the soldiers responsible
for locating targets
and coordinating
their elimination.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's kind of complicated.
So here's how Seth will
fit into the big picture.
First, he and his team will
slip ahead of friendly forces
to set up an observation
post, or an OP,
to gain vantage of
an enemy target.
Once located,
they'll radio that target's
position to what's called,
a "Joint Air Ground
Integration Center,"
or "JAGIC" for short,
which will decide
how best to attack.
Then, JAGIC will inform
Seth of their decision
so he can observe the attack
(gunfire)
and then confirm that the
target is in fact destroyed.
But before any of
that can happen,
Seth and his team
will need to ensure
that their communication
system is mission ready.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] It's a concept
not unlike adding a booster
for better wifi at home.
Only here, that booster
comes in the form
of a 15-ton armored vehicle,
One that, by the sound of it,
is still struggling
for a clear connection.
(indistinct radio chatter)
- So we have broken FM
comms with IV JAGIC.
We've been playing
around with our antennas
to try to (indistinct
radio chatter)
and clear up the static
within the comms.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Translation?
This re-trans is anything but
battle ready and until it is,
Seth and his team are about as
effective as a glass hammer.
- The data that we send has
to be absolutely perfect.
Everything has to be perfect.
And if it's broken then,
that's a whole layer of error
that we need to eliminate.
(upbeat rock music begins)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] There
are a lot of moving parts
in an exercise of
this magnitude,
which is why ironing out
the kinks in training
can pay precious dividends
overseas. (gunfire)
So as part of Ivy Mass,
Fort Carson will be
putting every facet
of their operation through its
paces. (fighter jet soaring)
And since, as the saying goes,
"An army marches
on its stomach,"
the 28 soldiers in
charge of feeding troops
are no exception.
So today, Culinary Specialists,
like Staff Sergeant
Qwané Hanes here,
will be operating
out of what's called,
a "Containerized Kitchen,"
or "CK" for short,
the same kind used
during deployment.
- We prepare our
meals, our hot meals,
and then we usually serve
'em in here as well.
And then the soldiers come in
that way, walk down the line,
grab whatever they need because
we make the line self-serve.
And then they walk on out.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] From
this 500-square foot setup,
Qwané and her team will feed
more than 200 soldiers a day,
starting with the members
of their battalion
headed straight into Ivy Mass,
but on eyeing over
their to-go orders
- These three are for the 60.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] One of them
is looking a little light.
- Somebody needs to go
do the sausage, frittata,
and you need to
give 'em the chili.
- Bravo?
- The 60, yes.
- Somebody grab
something, for real.
Y'all standing around, man.
(chuckling)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's not the smoothest
of starts to their day,
but with six years of
experience under her belt,
Qwané is well acquainted with
handling issues on the fly.
- We got the frittata
here, so Daley,
you gotta get the frittata
with the other ones.
How long on grits?
- I think they're
done right now.
- Okay.
Place these, take this.
Yeah. No problem.
- Thank you.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Culinary crisis averted.
- Y'all ready to open?
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's time to roll out chow
for the rest of the troops.
- So we got our meal out on time
so everything is
flowing pretty smoothly.
A lot of soldiers, if they know
that they have a hot meal in
the morning to start their day,
they'll have better energy
when it comes to training
and doing everything
they have to do
to sustain themselves
throughout their day.
- Backbone.
- You the backbone.
- You the backbone, Sarge.
- No, YOU the backbone.
(indistinct)
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Ivy Mass
may be the primary
exercise today,
but it is by no means
the only training
that goes on at Fort Carson.
(metal lever clanking)
Take, for example, the 500
or so other soldiers who,
every day, rely on
ranges like these
to hone their marksmanship.
(gunfire)
Ivy Mass or not,
they're getting in that
target practice today.
And the man charged with
making that possible,
is Range Supervisor,
Dale Veneklasen.
- We got the humbling privilege
of becoming the manager here
at Ford Carson Range
Control for the RETS.
RETS is the 'Remote
Engagement Target Systems.'
It's got moving targets,
stationary targets,
and individual troop targets.
We work 24/7 ops, 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week ops
in support of training.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] This morning,
Dale's come to look in on one
of the range's moving targets,
one designed to
resemble an enemy truck.
And apparently,
one that's also seeing
a good deal of action,
but that's nothing unusual for
Dale and his colleague, Ryan.
- When you have damaged
targets, (drilling)
the actual rounds may go
through the same holes,
so it may not actually be
sensed with the hit sensors.
I'm gonna get a
little bit of push.
Hold on a second.
(wood splintering)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] For
the thoroughly shot up backers,
Dale and Ryan will
replace entire panels,
but for more minor damage,
they'll just do a
little patch work.
- So if you look here,
you'll see a patch.
We'll patch holes because
plywood's expensive,
and we gotta manage
our taxpayers' dollars.
So we have to reuse everything
that we possibly can,
but still provide a quality
product to our command team
and the soldiers
that are fighting.
That makes sense to
American populists?
I'm sure it does.
(prying up wood)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Spoken like a true patriot.
(drilling and sawing)
And with this target now
back in fighting shape,
all that's left for Dale
is to run a quick test.
- Roger. Clear mover one.
(walkie trilling)
Go ahead and execute.
(machine whirring)
- So that's good news, the
target's exposing itself.
Once it moves down,
it'll stop at the end,
conceal itself again
and we're done.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Well, not quite,
because another
part of Dale's job,
is ensuring that the local fauna
doesn't run a foul of
30,000 rounds a day.
And its so happens,
that he and Ryan have a curious
pronghorn on their hands.
- There's a little fella back
there (playful music begins)
coming up on us like
"What are you guys doing?"
(truck door shutting) And
what we're gonna try to do is,
go ahead and move up
slowly on this pronghorn
and get 'er off the range.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] As
the world's most formidable
fighting force,
(helicopter whirring)
it should come as no surprise
(gunfire)
that the US Army is backed
by a good bit of manpower,
but just how much
are we talking?
Well, to put things
into perspective,
you could take the entire
United States Navy,
the Marine Corps,
and the Air Force,
put 'em all together
and only then,
would you come close to
Army's strong numbers.
But it's not just the
million+ men and women
who make our army such
a military powerhouse.
It's also their training.
Take the soldiers at Fort Carson
in Colorado Springs,
for example,
who for the first time ever
are conducting a
multifaceted exercise
by the name of, "Ivy Mass,"
all in an effort to hone
battle strategies abroad.
But while prepping one of
the fort's shooting ranges
for target practice,
Supervisor, Dale
Veneklasen here,
has spotted something that
is not part of the program.
- I saw a pronghorn and so,
I'm gonna try to get
this pronghorn to
get it off the range.
We wanna allow the wildlife
to do what they need to do,
but unfortunately, they
interrupt training on occasions.
So what we don't want to do
is shoot them on accident.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Fortunately for this pronghorn,
Dale has tactics
for gently showing
wildlife off the premises.
- We're just gonna push her
off the range here to the west,
and unfortunately,
she wants to run east,
so we're gonna try
to get around her
and then push her
off to the west
because to the east we have
another live fire range.
Woop, there she goes right
there, she's going to the west.
She's gonna be off the range,
so we're gonna stop
here for a second
and see if she continues
to run and if she does,
we're good to go.
There we go. Now we're clear.
Mission complete.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
While Dale gets back
to setting up targets,
25 miles away,
Staff Sergeant Seth Jackson
(indistinct radio chatter)
is still struggling
to set up his post.
And with Ivy Mass kicking
off in just under an hour,
he and his team will need to
sort out their communications
ASAP, if they're going
to call any shots.
- We're up voice broken with
Ivy JAGIC, which is our hire,
which most of our
processing will go through.
I believe they're around
How far away are they, sir?
- Straight line distance,
probably about 20
to 25 kilometers.
The issue we're having is,
we can talk to other units
in the same general vicinity,
as the unit we're trying
to get into contact with.
However, the specific element
that we need to be talking to,
we are coming in broken and
they are coming in broken to us.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's the kind of issue
that could derail the
whole training exercise,
and in real battle, far worse,
but Seth isn't
giving up just yet.
- [Voice Over Seth] So
what we're gonna do is,
we're gonna try a
different power amp
and a different radio
with a different antenna.
So we're gonna raise one
up on top of the striker,
so we've got maximum height.
All right.
We'll give it a shot.
(indistinct radio chatter)
- Roger.
- Yeah, if we get them like that
for the rest of the time
we're here, we can work that.
- Well, at least we have
two-way communication now.
Sounds good.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] With
communications now online,
Seth and his team
are finally ready
to relay enemy positions to HQ.
And when it comes time
(jet soaring)
to put some warheads
on foreheads,
a good few of those will come
from howitzers like this one,
which can happily dole
out four rounds a minute
from 15 miles away,
but operating a weapon of
this size is no small feat.
It takes a crew of eight
working at breakneck speed
and down-to-the-detail accuracy,
all under the supervision
of guys like Staff
Sergeant David Herrera.
- So as a Howitzer
Section Chief,
my role is to be able to provide
accurate and lethal fires,
taking out and destroying
hard target objectives,
and clearing the way for our
infantry and ground assets.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] First though,
David and his men will have
to set their howitzer up,
and having arrived at
their assigned position,
it's time to get started.
- Three,
two,
one,
stop.
Dismount!
(shouting commands)
Let's go boys!
Let's go, let's go,
let's go, let's go!
(equipment clanking)
(indistinct chatter)
- Let's go.
- Okay, let's go, backfill.
So we're digging into these
spaces, and basically,
they stop us from our recall
from the howitzer sliding back.
All the way, right! Let's go!
Get that right side dug in!
(metal clanking)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
When working at top speed,
the only one David knows,
(indistinct background commands)
this crew can set up a
howitzer in five minutes flat,
but to keep from being spotted,
they'll also need
some concealment.
- So right now,
(pounding stakes)
they're setting up this net.
Just like any deployment
or real life scenario,
we wanna hide ourselves
from any UAS or air assets
that may be out there reconning.
So they don't know exactly
what equipment we have,
how many personnel we have,
and just trying to disrupt
'em as much as possible.
Let's go boys.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
And just like that,
David and his team are battle
ready with time to spare.
All they have to do
now, is a quick dry run.
- 3-0-8-2.
(rapidly cranking wheels)
Quads are 1-8-8.
(indistinct)
- Verify, let's go.
(metal clanking)
- Step up!
Fire!
All right, ground's complete.
Good job.
- Now we're just
waiting for the Ivy Mass
actual live fire to start.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] It
takes a lot of fire power
to protect these United States
(automatic gunfire)
and believe me,
(bomb exploding)
the army has that in spades,
so much in fact, that their
handbook on weaponry alone,
is a full 400 pages long,
complete with anything and
everything that slices,
stuns, shoots or nukes.
(bomb exploding)
And that's just the stuff
you're allowed to know about.
But to win wars, even
with all that weaponry,
a soldier must
train, which is why,
here at Ford Carson
in Colorado Springs,
more than 700 of
them have gathered
for an unprecedented
exercise called, "Ivy Mass,"
where the objective
is to identify
and take out enemy targets
using close coordination
and live ammunition.
And while a good bit
of that will rain down
from the 28 howitzers
currently standing by,
more still will come courtesy
(helicopter whirring)
of the most lethal
helicopter ever created,
the AH-64 Apache.
And at the stick,
guys like First
Lieutenant, Evan Delvaux.
- Our mission, as the
AH-64 Delta Apaches,
is to provide close air support.
So that could be an attack
by fire, support by fire,
anything in support of the
ground units' objectives.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
And as you may have guessed,
this particular bird packs
a whole lot of support,
from 30-millimeter chain
guns to folding fin rockets,
even laser-guided missiles.
And to keep 'em
all on their mark,
one of the most advanced
targeting systems
known to warfare.
- I have this,
which is the Target Acquisition
Designation Site, or TADS.
And we can use this to aim
all of our weapon systems,
from the 30-millimeter,
the rockets and the
hellfire missiles.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
But before Evan can get
this arsenal off the ground,
he'll first need
to give his Apache
a thorough pre-flight check.
After all, it's far better
to come across his shoes
down here than up there.
- Some of the things that
we look for in pre-flight
are circuit breakers
that are popped
that might indicate
some kind of an issue
with our electrical system.
On the main rotor,
we're looking for the security
of the pitch change links,
which are what transfer
their flight control motions
to each rotor blade.
And just looking for any
visual signs of damage
on the blades themselves.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
With everything looking
as it should, it's time
to mount up and head out.
But before they can join
the Ivy Mass exercise,
Evan and his co-pilot
will first need
to take on fuel and ammo.
So they're headed
to what's known as
a 'Forward Arming
and Refueling Point,'
or a 'FARP' for short,
where troops on the ground
are waiting to assist.
(helicopter whirring)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Aside from poor visibility,
dust like this can also damage
things like the rotor blades,
hydraulics, and as Evan
is about to find out,
his targeting system.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
While Evan struggles
to get his Apache
back into the sky,
20 miles away and having fixed
their communication issues,
Staff Sergeant Seth
Jackson and his team
are finally ready to set
up their observation post.
And for that, they'll
employ what's known as,
a 'Laser Designator Rangefinder'
or an 'LDR' for short.
- This utilizes a laser inside.
It shoots, and then it'll
give you a distance direction
and then coordinates
for a location.
And then also,
it's what we use to have
accurate fires for Apaches,
artillery, fixed wing,
anything that we're using.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
With this nifty little piece
of MilTech, Seth and
his partner, Andrew,
can call in targets from
more than four miles away.
And it isn't long before they
zero in on the first of them,
an armored vehicle tucked
in the enemy encampment.
- In the open. Standby for grid.
- Grid, Echo-Charlie:
0-9-7-8-2-5-5-5-9-4-0-6-1-4.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
With a target confirmed
and the coordinates gathered,
all that's left now
is to call it in.
- Locking fires, locking fires.
This is Tomahawk 95,
fire for effect, over.
I have one by 2S3
in the open, over.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
For this particular target,
mission control will utilize
the howitzer stationed 10
miles away, and already,
Staff Sergeant David Herrera,
(howitzer firing)
can tell he and his team
will soon be on deck.
- We have three other
guns in our battery.
You can hear them
in the background.
That means we're about
to get a mission as well.
We have three other
guns on standby
so as soon as they shoot,
we're shooting as well
with the next mission.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
But on receiving orders
of their own
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] They're not quite
what David expected.
- (Censored). This
one's gonna suck.
- Gotta pull that one in!
(indistinct chatter)
- So we had this on a driver's
mission, (hacking dirt)
which is outside of our
limits for our left ability.
So we basically have
to pick the howitzer up
and shift it over to due right,
to, basically, hit our
left southern target.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's the kind of curve ball
that makes Ivy Mass
one of the more challenging
exercises out there.
But with the Howitzer
repositioned,
David and his men
can finally start
sending shells downrange.
- Step back!
Fire!
(howitzer firing)
Go!
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] But
apparently, not for long.
- Fire!
(howitzer clicking)
- Misfire, misfire, misfire!
Refire, refire! Let's
go, let's go, let's go!
(metal clanking)
(indistinct chatter)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] You
don't need to visit a war zone,
or even a military installation
to appreciate the Army's
contributions to our country.
Just look around the house.
Got a Jeep in the garage?
Army did that.
Aviator sunglasses?
Invented for army pilots.
Even the microwave
in your kitchen
can be traced back
to army radars.
And those are just a few
of the everyday items
made possible by our
friends in fatigues.
But at Ford Carson in
Colorado Springs
- Misfire, misfire, misfire!
(howitzer clicking)
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] In the throes
of their first ever
Ivy Mass exercise
- Refire, refire! Standby!
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
One of those inventions
isn't quite working as hoped.
The 155-millimeter howitzer
that should be firing
shells at an enemy target,
but instead has flung staff
Sergeant David Herrera
and his men into crisis mode.
Fortunately, they
train for that too.
- So now we're going through
our misfire procedure. Standby!
Fire!
- Hey! Re-prime! Let's go!
Unprime and re-prime!
(howitzer clicking)
(gunfire)
Fire! Go!
(howitzer firing)
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Back in the game,
and back to that armored vehicle
in need of some blowing up.
- Ready.
- Standby!
- Fire!
(howitzer firing)
(indistinct commands)
3-2-5-0! 2-6-7! Standby!
Fire!
(howitzer firing)
- Splash, Tiger, Number,
Alpha, Alpha, one, one.
I have one 2S3 destroyed,
approximately five
dismounts K, over.
- Smoked everybody.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
But no time to rest
on one's laurels now
because, in combat,
firing a howitzer four
times is more than enough
to give away one's position.
So to continue their mission,
David and his team will
have to make a move.
- We're gonna pack, literally,
all of this stuff up,
net our defenses
and all our aid gear
up in the back of the truck.
We're gonna bring the truck
around, pump this howitzer up,
and we're basically
gonna hook it up
and displace 500 meters.
Good job boys!
(metal clanking)
Go!
(air hissing)
(indistinct commands)
Ready? 1, 2, 3, up!
(grunting)
- Get in the truck, get in
the truck, get in the truck!
All right.
(engine revving off)
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Meanwhile,
at the center of Fort Carson,
Staff Sergeant Qwané
Hanes is also on the move,
because to feed dinner
to 200+ soldiers,
she'll need to stock
up on provisions.
So for that, she's
come to what's known as
the 'Supply Subsistence
Management Office,'
or 'SSMO,' if you wanna
be quick about it,
for another truckload of chow.
- Mr. Jonathan.
- Hey.
- How are you?
- Good.
- Can I see what
we're getting today?
- Yes.
- Total of 6 pallets?
Is it 6?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Bread, you getting four?
- Mm-hmm (affirmative).
- So eight, four
white for the week.
Tomatoes, can't cut that.
I'll take the fruit.
There we go.
- So two breakfast,
two dinners, right?
- Yep.
- Okay. All right.
- Looking good. Looking
good. Thank you sir.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] Having
double checked the order,
Qwané also keeps an
eye on the loading dock
to ensure that everything
makes it onto the truck.
Then, this being a
government operation,
there's just a little more
paperwork left to handle.
- Right now What I'm doing is
authorizing and
signing for the food,
saying I got what this
paper says that I have.
I counted it, I seen it.
Now it's my responsibility
to take over for the food,
and make sure it gets
to where it needs to be.
Thank you sir.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
While Qwané heads back
to her containerized kitchen,
10 miles away, First
Lieutenant Evan Delvaux,
and his Apache are
still grounded,
until someone can sort out
just what's gone wrong with
their targeting system.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
To stay on schedule,
ground crews will go ahead
with loading fuel and ammo,
on the faith that
the targeting systems
will be ready by takeoff.
But as you might imagine,
working with live rounds
requires a good bit of caution.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Thankfully,
no such currents
appear to be present,
and with 300 rounds
and 19 rockets now loaded
and ready for battle,
it isn't long before Evan's
targeting system follows suit.
(helicopter whirring)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's hard to imagine
just how far reaching the
Army's influence really is,
but it really is.
I mean, forget the 160
installations worldwide,
and consider their
presence in the US alone.
Here, more than 15
million acres of land
is owned and operated
by just this one branch.
That's an area the
size of West Virginia,
all devoted to protecting
our citizens from threats
both foreign and domestic.
Take Fort Carson in Colorado
Springs, for example,
where more than a hundred
thousand of those acres
are being used to conduct
a training exercise
unlike any ever
attempted, Ivy Mass.
The goal?
Combine air, ground, space
and cyberspace resources
to take out 50 enemy
targets before day's end.
But for one of those methods,
crews, like Staff
Sergeant David Herrera's,
need to stay nimble, so
they're moving company
before enemy forces
try to take 'em out.
- So we're gonna displace
about 500 meters.
So when their counter battery,
or their counter
missiles do fire,
their missiles will basically
hit dirt and not us.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
And with another 500 meters
of prairie between them and
their previous position
- Dismount!
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's once again time
to set up the howitzer.
- Backfill, let's go!
Get these nets up boys.
(hammering stakes)
You guys good?
We're in position ready to fire.
We called up to FDC, our Fire
Direction Control Center.
We're just waiting for
follow-on missions.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] But
just as their latest mission
starts to come through,
David and his team are hit
with a pretty sizeable snag.
- Our computer system,
that's talking to the Fire
Direction Control Center,
is down.
So there's a missing
link somehow.
Either a cable's
loose or we lost fill.
So we have to go to degraded,
which is all manual
from the site
to me, basically,
verifying everything.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] In other words,
David and the boys
are gonna have to
dial in their coordinates
the old fashioned way.
Thankfully, they've got
a specialist on site
for that very thing.
- Takes an experienced
gunner and a certified gunner
to be able to do it.
He's gonna have
to manually set in
the deflection and the quadrant,
understand how to site
in on our target space.
- Say it, Garcia.
- 3-2-0.
- 3-2-0, let's go.
Hey, gimme these
rounds, let's go!
- Hurry up!
(indistinct commands)
- Verify, it. Go!
- Let's go, let's go, let's
go, let's go, let's go.
- Set ready.
- Deflection!
2-9-5-8. 3-2-0. Fire!
(howitzer firing)
Next round, go! Standby!
Fire!
(howitzer firing)
Standby!
(indistinct commands)
Fire!
(howitzer firing)
Let's go. Last round boys.
Last round. Last
round. Let's go!
Good, good, good.
Yeah.
- Get ready!
- 2-9-5-8.
(indistinct command)
- 3-2-0.
(indistinct command)
- Standby!
Fire!
(howitzer firing)
- Locking fires, locking
fires. This is Tomahawk 95.
Blasts are destroying.
The round's complete, over.
- With our digital
systems going down,
we're able to get
rounds downrange
safely and effectively.
Definitely successful.
These guys are killers.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
While David and company
break down for yet another move,
elsewhere on the
training grounds,
Supervisor, Dale Veneklasen,
is dealing with targets of a
different kind, specifically,
the 3000 or so stationary
and moving ones
that soldiers count on
for rifle retraining.
But before he can open up
this range to the troops,
he and his partner, Ryan,
will first need to
troubleshoot one target.
It's laying down on the job.
- What's going on Ryan?
- Looks like right now,
not getting any
power to the lifter.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Our friend in green here,
is designed to stand upright
and fall back when hit.
But with all motor
functions currently down,
Dale will need to
sleuth out the reason.
- So I'm gonna disconnect
the power cable
from the box itself.
All right? Then
I'll reconnect it.
Try to get some on, power.
- Nope, still no power.
- Still no power.
- So as you can see,
it absolutely is
the power cable.
- That would be our problem.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
With the issue identified,
getting this target
back up and running
should be no more difficult
than swapping in a
fresh power cord.
- I'm gonna feed this through.
We're gonna do a quick test.
Turn the power on.
(flipping switch)
We wanna just give it a
small tap. (hammer tapping)
That tap replicates
a round hitting it,
causing a vibration
for it to go back down.
So all of our target
devices are operational now.
We're ready to get off the range
and let them continue training.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Meanwhile,
back at one of the four
containerized kitchens on site,
Staff Sergeant Qwané Hanes
is making good
progress of her own
with another truck full
of ingredients on site,
and dinner service
already underway.
- We good out here?
Yeah, so
- Don't forget salad.
- We got bread on the
back of the truck.
- Okay.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] But
to feed more than 200 soldiers,
Qwané will be prepping
a good bit more
than just salad and bread.
- We have beef and broccoli
with a savory teriyaki sauce
that's gonna be mixed in
with the vegetable blend.
And then on the side,
we'll have some carrots,
some basmati rice.
And then following that,
we have our fruit up there,
which is oranges.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Oranges aside,
it's a lot to heat up,
especially with just 20
minutes until serving time.
So to speed things along,
Qwané relies on what are
called, "Modern Burner Units,"
and yeah, there's an
abbreviation for those too.
- So we're gonna start our MBUs.
Our MBUs are powered
by our generators,
so our generator give to
us all the power we need
to light up the MBUs to make
the line hot, to boil water,
to cook the things
that we need to cook.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
That's usually the case anyway,
but on firing up the line,
Qwané is quick to spot an issue.
- Garner, this one
giving you a problem?
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's been a historic day
for the men and women of Fort
Carson in Colorado Springs.
- Fire!
(howitzer firing)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
With their first ever
Ivy Mass in full swing,
and the last of its
training missions
launching in the field of
simulated battle, (jet soaring)
but on the outskirts
of the action
in one of the four
containerized kitchens,
Staff Sergeant Qwané Hanes
has a very real
problem on her hands,
a Modern Burner Unit, or MBU,
that's decided to break down
in the middle of dinner prep.
- Our MBU mechanic,
he's trying to figure out
what exactly is wrong with it.
So we're still down one burner.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Of course,
that's not going to stop
200+ hungry soldiers
from showing up in
15 minutes time,
so Qwané will have to improvise.
- Everything that's in the water
over the MBU that didn't work,
we'll just add it
to somewhere else.
That way, we'll be able
to continuously cook
and push out all the
food that we need to.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] And while the last
of those menu items
warm up in a water bath,
Qwané and her crew waste no time
laying out the rest
of their spread.
- We got 10 minutes until
everybody's showing up,
so guys, come on,
let's get everything set up
on the line that we need.
So get utensils, put
the utensils in place.
I want the beef
moved right here.
Anbrose, I want
those to be last.
Yep.
- Wooh!
- That thing is hot.
- Very!
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] It
came right down to the wire,
but this containerized kitchen
is finally ready
for dinner service,
just as soon as Qwané conducts
a little quality control test.
- Nice,
hot,
flavorful,
and delicious.
- Now you gotta hit it
with a little bit of that,
"Ooh-wee-wow!
(chuckling)
- I'm grateful that
we got everything done
in a timely manner.
I'm grateful that we
were able to bounce back,
get everything broken down,
get everything set up,
to still be able to provide
these soldiers a hot meal
in a timely manner for Ivy Mass.
(helicopter whirring)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Back out on the battlefield.
First Lieutenant
Evan Delvaux's dinner
will have to wait because
somewhere down below,
there's one more enemy
target to take out.
And until Ground
Forces locate it,
he and his fellow Apache pilots
are stuck in a holding pattern.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Unbeknownst to Evan,
that clearance may come
sooner than expected,
because down on the
ground Forward Observer,
Seth Jackson and
his partner, Andrew,
have just clapped
eyes on one target
they've been
searching for all day,
a fuel truck buried
deep behind enemy lines.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Fortunately for these two,
there are three
Apaches just waiting
to take this tanker out.
All they have to
do is call 'em in.
(helicopter whirring)
(Apache firing)
(Apache firing continues)
- Roger. One D30 destroyed,
approximately one zero
dismounts K, over.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
To venture a guess,
Evan is not the only one
headed for the house,
because with the last of their
enemy targets now vanquished,
Ivy Mass and its
700+ participants
are finally done for the day.
And though there will
always be more training,
there is no doubt that
the lessons learned here
will prove critical to
advancing battle lines
and reducing
casualties in combat.
Combat they'll
fight, tirelessly,
for the likes of you and me
and for love of their country.
So the next time you
come across a member
of the United States
Army, just remember,
they are among our greatest
allies and How America Works.
(flag flapping)
- Full disclosure,
I never served in the Army.
I did wear the uniform though,
once upon a time for a day.
(scoffing)
This is me back in 2006, maybe?
I was doing a job
with 187th Battalion
at Fort Jackson
in North Carolina.
Very long day.
And I remember at the end of it,
the commanding officer told me,
he had never seen it so
difficult to recruit.
It's even more difficult today.
I just talked to a
general who told me,
"It hasn't been like
this since 1973,"
the year after they
got rid of the draft.
I get it. The armed services
aren't for everybody.
Some people don't
wanna be armed.
Some people don't wanna serve.
It's funny though,
how everybody wants
to be protected,
how we all wanna feel safe.
Funny how 1.1 million members
of this most extraordinary club
have paid for every single
freedom that we hold dear.
If you're not put
off by the dukes,
and you've heard the call,
you can answer it at
mikeroweworks.org/haw.
- Since the signing of the
Declaration of Independence,
over one third of
America's presidents
have been admitted into
a very exclusive club.
I'm not talking about the
Skull and Bones Society
or the Free Masons
or the Bohemian Club.
This club is not nearly
as discriminating
or exclusive as those.
It's members, however, do
have to pay their dues.
In fact, more than
a few have died
as a result of being
admitted to this club.
I refer, of course, to a club
we call, "The
United States Army."
Though it's been a while
since a president
has worn the uniform,
I suspect we'll see it again.
I hope so anyway,
because no other
club in this country
is as good at preparing
our elected officials
for a lifetime of
service than the US Army.
Tonight, our cameras
go behind the walls
of Fort Carson in
Colorado Springs
to give you a look at who's
protecting this nation
and to show you what it takes
to serve in today's army.
Because if you don't
understand that,
you'll never understand
How America Works. (helicopter
propeller whirring)
(cannon exploding)
Since the first of
its members marched
under General George
Washington himself,
the United States Army has
evolved into thee most powerful
military branch on
the face of the earth,
seriously, by a lot.
Just look at the
stats on this outfit:
1.1 million soldiers,
200 installations worldwide,
6,000 tanks,
(tank firing)
1200 helicopters,
500 howitzers.
And all the guns, grenades,
(artillery barrage)
and other gadgets
the nation could need
to take decisive action
at home and overseas.
(bombs exploding)
It's a good thing
they're on our side.
But despite such a
comprehensive arsenal,
along with a fierce
devotion to their country,
the Army's greatest asset of all
may well be its training.
(gunfire)
That's why your typical soldier
will undergo months of it
before ever seeing combat.
(automatic gunfire)
And if they're lucky,
some of those soldiers will
earn their stripes here,
Fort Carson in Colorado Springs.
In a typical year,
this facility will train
more than 30,000 soldiers
with the skills needed
not just to survive,
but to win wars
the American way.
And it just so
happens that today,
they'll be conducting an
exercise unlike any before.
It's called, "Ivy Mass,"
where for the first
time in history,
an army division will
utilize assets on the ground,
in the air, in cyberspace
and actual space,
to take out enemy targets
scattered across the landscape,
about 50 of them in all.
It's the kind of training
that can make the difference
between life and death in
a real battle scenario.
And nobody knows that better
than Staff Sergeant
Seth Jackson.
(pulsing tense music begins)
- [Voice Over SSG]
When you are overseas
in a situation like this,
you are gonna be working
with all these joint forces.
And you have to be on top
of your game at all times,
because one person
can make a difference
between success or failure.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] It's true,
especially for guys like Seth,
because for this exercise,
he'll be acting as one of the
Army's 20+ Forward Observers,
the soldiers responsible
for locating targets
and coordinating
their elimination.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's kind of complicated.
So here's how Seth will
fit into the big picture.
First, he and his team will
slip ahead of friendly forces
to set up an observation
post, or an OP,
to gain vantage of
an enemy target.
Once located,
they'll radio that target's
position to what's called,
a "Joint Air Ground
Integration Center,"
or "JAGIC" for short,
which will decide
how best to attack.
Then, JAGIC will inform
Seth of their decision
so he can observe the attack
(gunfire)
and then confirm that the
target is in fact destroyed.
But before any of
that can happen,
Seth and his team
will need to ensure
that their communication
system is mission ready.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] It's a concept
not unlike adding a booster
for better wifi at home.
Only here, that booster
comes in the form
of a 15-ton armored vehicle,
One that, by the sound of it,
is still struggling
for a clear connection.
(indistinct radio chatter)
- So we have broken FM
comms with IV JAGIC.
We've been playing
around with our antennas
to try to (indistinct
radio chatter)
and clear up the static
within the comms.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Translation?
This re-trans is anything but
battle ready and until it is,
Seth and his team are about as
effective as a glass hammer.
- The data that we send has
to be absolutely perfect.
Everything has to be perfect.
And if it's broken then,
that's a whole layer of error
that we need to eliminate.
(upbeat rock music begins)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] There
are a lot of moving parts
in an exercise of
this magnitude,
which is why ironing out
the kinks in training
can pay precious dividends
overseas. (gunfire)
So as part of Ivy Mass,
Fort Carson will be
putting every facet
of their operation through its
paces. (fighter jet soaring)
And since, as the saying goes,
"An army marches
on its stomach,"
the 28 soldiers in
charge of feeding troops
are no exception.
So today, Culinary Specialists,
like Staff Sergeant
Qwané Hanes here,
will be operating
out of what's called,
a "Containerized Kitchen,"
or "CK" for short,
the same kind used
during deployment.
- We prepare our
meals, our hot meals,
and then we usually serve
'em in here as well.
And then the soldiers come in
that way, walk down the line,
grab whatever they need because
we make the line self-serve.
And then they walk on out.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] From
this 500-square foot setup,
Qwané and her team will feed
more than 200 soldiers a day,
starting with the members
of their battalion
headed straight into Ivy Mass,
but on eyeing over
their to-go orders
- These three are for the 60.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] One of them
is looking a little light.
- Somebody needs to go
do the sausage, frittata,
and you need to
give 'em the chili.
- Bravo?
- The 60, yes.
- Somebody grab
something, for real.
Y'all standing around, man.
(chuckling)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's not the smoothest
of starts to their day,
but with six years of
experience under her belt,
Qwané is well acquainted with
handling issues on the fly.
- We got the frittata
here, so Daley,
you gotta get the frittata
with the other ones.
How long on grits?
- I think they're
done right now.
- Okay.
Place these, take this.
Yeah. No problem.
- Thank you.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Culinary crisis averted.
- Y'all ready to open?
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's time to roll out chow
for the rest of the troops.
- So we got our meal out on time
so everything is
flowing pretty smoothly.
A lot of soldiers, if they know
that they have a hot meal in
the morning to start their day,
they'll have better energy
when it comes to training
and doing everything
they have to do
to sustain themselves
throughout their day.
- Backbone.
- You the backbone.
- You the backbone, Sarge.
- No, YOU the backbone.
(indistinct)
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Ivy Mass
may be the primary
exercise today,
but it is by no means
the only training
that goes on at Fort Carson.
(metal lever clanking)
Take, for example, the 500
or so other soldiers who,
every day, rely on
ranges like these
to hone their marksmanship.
(gunfire)
Ivy Mass or not,
they're getting in that
target practice today.
And the man charged with
making that possible,
is Range Supervisor,
Dale Veneklasen.
- We got the humbling privilege
of becoming the manager here
at Ford Carson Range
Control for the RETS.
RETS is the 'Remote
Engagement Target Systems.'
It's got moving targets,
stationary targets,
and individual troop targets.
We work 24/7 ops, 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week ops
in support of training.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] This morning,
Dale's come to look in on one
of the range's moving targets,
one designed to
resemble an enemy truck.
And apparently,
one that's also seeing
a good deal of action,
but that's nothing unusual for
Dale and his colleague, Ryan.
- When you have damaged
targets, (drilling)
the actual rounds may go
through the same holes,
so it may not actually be
sensed with the hit sensors.
I'm gonna get a
little bit of push.
Hold on a second.
(wood splintering)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] For
the thoroughly shot up backers,
Dale and Ryan will
replace entire panels,
but for more minor damage,
they'll just do a
little patch work.
- So if you look here,
you'll see a patch.
We'll patch holes because
plywood's expensive,
and we gotta manage
our taxpayers' dollars.
So we have to reuse everything
that we possibly can,
but still provide a quality
product to our command team
and the soldiers
that are fighting.
That makes sense to
American populists?
I'm sure it does.
(prying up wood)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Spoken like a true patriot.
(drilling and sawing)
And with this target now
back in fighting shape,
all that's left for Dale
is to run a quick test.
- Roger. Clear mover one.
(walkie trilling)
Go ahead and execute.
(machine whirring)
- So that's good news, the
target's exposing itself.
Once it moves down,
it'll stop at the end,
conceal itself again
and we're done.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Well, not quite,
because another
part of Dale's job,
is ensuring that the local fauna
doesn't run a foul of
30,000 rounds a day.
And its so happens,
that he and Ryan have a curious
pronghorn on their hands.
- There's a little fella back
there (playful music begins)
coming up on us like
"What are you guys doing?"
(truck door shutting) And
what we're gonna try to do is,
go ahead and move up
slowly on this pronghorn
and get 'er off the range.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] As
the world's most formidable
fighting force,
(helicopter whirring)
it should come as no surprise
(gunfire)
that the US Army is backed
by a good bit of manpower,
but just how much
are we talking?
Well, to put things
into perspective,
you could take the entire
United States Navy,
the Marine Corps,
and the Air Force,
put 'em all together
and only then,
would you come close to
Army's strong numbers.
But it's not just the
million+ men and women
who make our army such
a military powerhouse.
It's also their training.
Take the soldiers at Fort Carson
in Colorado Springs,
for example,
who for the first time ever
are conducting a
multifaceted exercise
by the name of, "Ivy Mass,"
all in an effort to hone
battle strategies abroad.
But while prepping one of
the fort's shooting ranges
for target practice,
Supervisor, Dale
Veneklasen here,
has spotted something that
is not part of the program.
- I saw a pronghorn and so,
I'm gonna try to get
this pronghorn to
get it off the range.
We wanna allow the wildlife
to do what they need to do,
but unfortunately, they
interrupt training on occasions.
So what we don't want to do
is shoot them on accident.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Fortunately for this pronghorn,
Dale has tactics
for gently showing
wildlife off the premises.
- We're just gonna push her
off the range here to the west,
and unfortunately,
she wants to run east,
so we're gonna try
to get around her
and then push her
off to the west
because to the east we have
another live fire range.
Woop, there she goes right
there, she's going to the west.
She's gonna be off the range,
so we're gonna stop
here for a second
and see if she continues
to run and if she does,
we're good to go.
There we go. Now we're clear.
Mission complete.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
While Dale gets back
to setting up targets,
25 miles away,
Staff Sergeant Seth Jackson
(indistinct radio chatter)
is still struggling
to set up his post.
And with Ivy Mass kicking
off in just under an hour,
he and his team will need to
sort out their communications
ASAP, if they're going
to call any shots.
- We're up voice broken with
Ivy JAGIC, which is our hire,
which most of our
processing will go through.
I believe they're around
How far away are they, sir?
- Straight line distance,
probably about 20
to 25 kilometers.
The issue we're having is,
we can talk to other units
in the same general vicinity,
as the unit we're trying
to get into contact with.
However, the specific element
that we need to be talking to,
we are coming in broken and
they are coming in broken to us.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's the kind of issue
that could derail the
whole training exercise,
and in real battle, far worse,
but Seth isn't
giving up just yet.
- [Voice Over Seth] So
what we're gonna do is,
we're gonna try a
different power amp
and a different radio
with a different antenna.
So we're gonna raise one
up on top of the striker,
so we've got maximum height.
All right.
We'll give it a shot.
(indistinct radio chatter)
- Roger.
- Yeah, if we get them like that
for the rest of the time
we're here, we can work that.
- Well, at least we have
two-way communication now.
Sounds good.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] With
communications now online,
Seth and his team
are finally ready
to relay enemy positions to HQ.
And when it comes time
(jet soaring)
to put some warheads
on foreheads,
a good few of those will come
from howitzers like this one,
which can happily dole
out four rounds a minute
from 15 miles away,
but operating a weapon of
this size is no small feat.
It takes a crew of eight
working at breakneck speed
and down-to-the-detail accuracy,
all under the supervision
of guys like Staff
Sergeant David Herrera.
- So as a Howitzer
Section Chief,
my role is to be able to provide
accurate and lethal fires,
taking out and destroying
hard target objectives,
and clearing the way for our
infantry and ground assets.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] First though,
David and his men will have
to set their howitzer up,
and having arrived at
their assigned position,
it's time to get started.
- Three,
two,
one,
stop.
Dismount!
(shouting commands)
Let's go boys!
Let's go, let's go,
let's go, let's go!
(equipment clanking)
(indistinct chatter)
- Let's go.
- Okay, let's go, backfill.
So we're digging into these
spaces, and basically,
they stop us from our recall
from the howitzer sliding back.
All the way, right! Let's go!
Get that right side dug in!
(metal clanking)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
When working at top speed,
the only one David knows,
(indistinct background commands)
this crew can set up a
howitzer in five minutes flat,
but to keep from being spotted,
they'll also need
some concealment.
- So right now,
(pounding stakes)
they're setting up this net.
Just like any deployment
or real life scenario,
we wanna hide ourselves
from any UAS or air assets
that may be out there reconning.
So they don't know exactly
what equipment we have,
how many personnel we have,
and just trying to disrupt
'em as much as possible.
Let's go boys.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
And just like that,
David and his team are battle
ready with time to spare.
All they have to do
now, is a quick dry run.
- 3-0-8-2.
(rapidly cranking wheels)
Quads are 1-8-8.
(indistinct)
- Verify, let's go.
(metal clanking)
- Step up!
Fire!
All right, ground's complete.
Good job.
- Now we're just
waiting for the Ivy Mass
actual live fire to start.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] It
takes a lot of fire power
to protect these United States
(automatic gunfire)
and believe me,
(bomb exploding)
the army has that in spades,
so much in fact, that their
handbook on weaponry alone,
is a full 400 pages long,
complete with anything and
everything that slices,
stuns, shoots or nukes.
(bomb exploding)
And that's just the stuff
you're allowed to know about.
But to win wars, even
with all that weaponry,
a soldier must
train, which is why,
here at Ford Carson
in Colorado Springs,
more than 700 of
them have gathered
for an unprecedented
exercise called, "Ivy Mass,"
where the objective
is to identify
and take out enemy targets
using close coordination
and live ammunition.
And while a good bit
of that will rain down
from the 28 howitzers
currently standing by,
more still will come courtesy
(helicopter whirring)
of the most lethal
helicopter ever created,
the AH-64 Apache.
And at the stick,
guys like First
Lieutenant, Evan Delvaux.
- Our mission, as the
AH-64 Delta Apaches,
is to provide close air support.
So that could be an attack
by fire, support by fire,
anything in support of the
ground units' objectives.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
And as you may have guessed,
this particular bird packs
a whole lot of support,
from 30-millimeter chain
guns to folding fin rockets,
even laser-guided missiles.
And to keep 'em
all on their mark,
one of the most advanced
targeting systems
known to warfare.
- I have this,
which is the Target Acquisition
Designation Site, or TADS.
And we can use this to aim
all of our weapon systems,
from the 30-millimeter,
the rockets and the
hellfire missiles.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
But before Evan can get
this arsenal off the ground,
he'll first need
to give his Apache
a thorough pre-flight check.
After all, it's far better
to come across his shoes
down here than up there.
- Some of the things that
we look for in pre-flight
are circuit breakers
that are popped
that might indicate
some kind of an issue
with our electrical system.
On the main rotor,
we're looking for the security
of the pitch change links,
which are what transfer
their flight control motions
to each rotor blade.
And just looking for any
visual signs of damage
on the blades themselves.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
With everything looking
as it should, it's time
to mount up and head out.
But before they can join
the Ivy Mass exercise,
Evan and his co-pilot
will first need
to take on fuel and ammo.
So they're headed
to what's known as
a 'Forward Arming
and Refueling Point,'
or a 'FARP' for short,
where troops on the ground
are waiting to assist.
(helicopter whirring)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Aside from poor visibility,
dust like this can also damage
things like the rotor blades,
hydraulics, and as Evan
is about to find out,
his targeting system.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
While Evan struggles
to get his Apache
back into the sky,
20 miles away and having fixed
their communication issues,
Staff Sergeant Seth
Jackson and his team
are finally ready to set
up their observation post.
And for that, they'll
employ what's known as,
a 'Laser Designator Rangefinder'
or an 'LDR' for short.
- This utilizes a laser inside.
It shoots, and then it'll
give you a distance direction
and then coordinates
for a location.
And then also,
it's what we use to have
accurate fires for Apaches,
artillery, fixed wing,
anything that we're using.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
With this nifty little piece
of MilTech, Seth and
his partner, Andrew,
can call in targets from
more than four miles away.
And it isn't long before they
zero in on the first of them,
an armored vehicle tucked
in the enemy encampment.
- In the open. Standby for grid.
- Grid, Echo-Charlie:
0-9-7-8-2-5-5-5-9-4-0-6-1-4.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
With a target confirmed
and the coordinates gathered,
all that's left now
is to call it in.
- Locking fires, locking fires.
This is Tomahawk 95,
fire for effect, over.
I have one by 2S3
in the open, over.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
For this particular target,
mission control will utilize
the howitzer stationed 10
miles away, and already,
Staff Sergeant David Herrera,
(howitzer firing)
can tell he and his team
will soon be on deck.
- We have three other
guns in our battery.
You can hear them
in the background.
That means we're about
to get a mission as well.
We have three other
guns on standby
so as soon as they shoot,
we're shooting as well
with the next mission.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
But on receiving orders
of their own
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] They're not quite
what David expected.
- (Censored). This
one's gonna suck.
- Gotta pull that one in!
(indistinct chatter)
- So we had this on a driver's
mission, (hacking dirt)
which is outside of our
limits for our left ability.
So we basically have
to pick the howitzer up
and shift it over to due right,
to, basically, hit our
left southern target.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's the kind of curve ball
that makes Ivy Mass
one of the more challenging
exercises out there.
But with the Howitzer
repositioned,
David and his men
can finally start
sending shells downrange.
- Step back!
Fire!
(howitzer firing)
Go!
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] But
apparently, not for long.
- Fire!
(howitzer clicking)
- Misfire, misfire, misfire!
Refire, refire! Let's
go, let's go, let's go!
(metal clanking)
(indistinct chatter)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] You
don't need to visit a war zone,
or even a military installation
to appreciate the Army's
contributions to our country.
Just look around the house.
Got a Jeep in the garage?
Army did that.
Aviator sunglasses?
Invented for army pilots.
Even the microwave
in your kitchen
can be traced back
to army radars.
And those are just a few
of the everyday items
made possible by our
friends in fatigues.
But at Ford Carson in
Colorado Springs
- Misfire, misfire, misfire!
(howitzer clicking)
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] In the throes
of their first ever
Ivy Mass exercise
- Refire, refire! Standby!
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
One of those inventions
isn't quite working as hoped.
The 155-millimeter howitzer
that should be firing
shells at an enemy target,
but instead has flung staff
Sergeant David Herrera
and his men into crisis mode.
Fortunately, they
train for that too.
- So now we're going through
our misfire procedure. Standby!
Fire!
- Hey! Re-prime! Let's go!
Unprime and re-prime!
(howitzer clicking)
(gunfire)
Fire! Go!
(howitzer firing)
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Back in the game,
and back to that armored vehicle
in need of some blowing up.
- Ready.
- Standby!
- Fire!
(howitzer firing)
(indistinct commands)
3-2-5-0! 2-6-7! Standby!
Fire!
(howitzer firing)
- Splash, Tiger, Number,
Alpha, Alpha, one, one.
I have one 2S3 destroyed,
approximately five
dismounts K, over.
- Smoked everybody.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
But no time to rest
on one's laurels now
because, in combat,
firing a howitzer four
times is more than enough
to give away one's position.
So to continue their mission,
David and his team will
have to make a move.
- We're gonna pack, literally,
all of this stuff up,
net our defenses
and all our aid gear
up in the back of the truck.
We're gonna bring the truck
around, pump this howitzer up,
and we're basically
gonna hook it up
and displace 500 meters.
Good job boys!
(metal clanking)
Go!
(air hissing)
(indistinct commands)
Ready? 1, 2, 3, up!
(grunting)
- Get in the truck, get in
the truck, get in the truck!
All right.
(engine revving off)
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Meanwhile,
at the center of Fort Carson,
Staff Sergeant Qwané
Hanes is also on the move,
because to feed dinner
to 200+ soldiers,
she'll need to stock
up on provisions.
So for that, she's
come to what's known as
the 'Supply Subsistence
Management Office,'
or 'SSMO,' if you wanna
be quick about it,
for another truckload of chow.
- Mr. Jonathan.
- Hey.
- How are you?
- Good.
- Can I see what
we're getting today?
- Yes.
- Total of 6 pallets?
Is it 6?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Bread, you getting four?
- Mm-hmm (affirmative).
- So eight, four
white for the week.
Tomatoes, can't cut that.
I'll take the fruit.
There we go.
- So two breakfast,
two dinners, right?
- Yep.
- Okay. All right.
- Looking good. Looking
good. Thank you sir.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] Having
double checked the order,
Qwané also keeps an
eye on the loading dock
to ensure that everything
makes it onto the truck.
Then, this being a
government operation,
there's just a little more
paperwork left to handle.
- Right now What I'm doing is
authorizing and
signing for the food,
saying I got what this
paper says that I have.
I counted it, I seen it.
Now it's my responsibility
to take over for the food,
and make sure it gets
to where it needs to be.
Thank you sir.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
While Qwané heads back
to her containerized kitchen,
10 miles away, First
Lieutenant Evan Delvaux,
and his Apache are
still grounded,
until someone can sort out
just what's gone wrong with
their targeting system.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
To stay on schedule,
ground crews will go ahead
with loading fuel and ammo,
on the faith that
the targeting systems
will be ready by takeoff.
But as you might imagine,
working with live rounds
requires a good bit of caution.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Thankfully,
no such currents
appear to be present,
and with 300 rounds
and 19 rockets now loaded
and ready for battle,
it isn't long before Evan's
targeting system follows suit.
(helicopter whirring)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's hard to imagine
just how far reaching the
Army's influence really is,
but it really is.
I mean, forget the 160
installations worldwide,
and consider their
presence in the US alone.
Here, more than 15
million acres of land
is owned and operated
by just this one branch.
That's an area the
size of West Virginia,
all devoted to protecting
our citizens from threats
both foreign and domestic.
Take Fort Carson in Colorado
Springs, for example,
where more than a hundred
thousand of those acres
are being used to conduct
a training exercise
unlike any ever
attempted, Ivy Mass.
The goal?
Combine air, ground, space
and cyberspace resources
to take out 50 enemy
targets before day's end.
But for one of those methods,
crews, like Staff
Sergeant David Herrera's,
need to stay nimble, so
they're moving company
before enemy forces
try to take 'em out.
- So we're gonna displace
about 500 meters.
So when their counter battery,
or their counter
missiles do fire,
their missiles will basically
hit dirt and not us.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
And with another 500 meters
of prairie between them and
their previous position
- Dismount!
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's once again time
to set up the howitzer.
- Backfill, let's go!
Get these nets up boys.
(hammering stakes)
You guys good?
We're in position ready to fire.
We called up to FDC, our Fire
Direction Control Center.
We're just waiting for
follow-on missions.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] But
just as their latest mission
starts to come through,
David and his team are hit
with a pretty sizeable snag.
- Our computer system,
that's talking to the Fire
Direction Control Center,
is down.
So there's a missing
link somehow.
Either a cable's
loose or we lost fill.
So we have to go to degraded,
which is all manual
from the site
to me, basically,
verifying everything.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] In other words,
David and the boys
are gonna have to
dial in their coordinates
the old fashioned way.
Thankfully, they've got
a specialist on site
for that very thing.
- Takes an experienced
gunner and a certified gunner
to be able to do it.
He's gonna have
to manually set in
the deflection and the quadrant,
understand how to site
in on our target space.
- Say it, Garcia.
- 3-2-0.
- 3-2-0, let's go.
Hey, gimme these
rounds, let's go!
- Hurry up!
(indistinct commands)
- Verify, it. Go!
- Let's go, let's go, let's
go, let's go, let's go.
- Set ready.
- Deflection!
2-9-5-8. 3-2-0. Fire!
(howitzer firing)
Next round, go! Standby!
Fire!
(howitzer firing)
Standby!
(indistinct commands)
Fire!
(howitzer firing)
Let's go. Last round boys.
Last round. Last
round. Let's go!
Good, good, good.
Yeah.
- Get ready!
- 2-9-5-8.
(indistinct command)
- 3-2-0.
(indistinct command)
- Standby!
Fire!
(howitzer firing)
- Locking fires, locking
fires. This is Tomahawk 95.
Blasts are destroying.
The round's complete, over.
- With our digital
systems going down,
we're able to get
rounds downrange
safely and effectively.
Definitely successful.
These guys are killers.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
While David and company
break down for yet another move,
elsewhere on the
training grounds,
Supervisor, Dale Veneklasen,
is dealing with targets of a
different kind, specifically,
the 3000 or so stationary
and moving ones
that soldiers count on
for rifle retraining.
But before he can open up
this range to the troops,
he and his partner, Ryan,
will first need to
troubleshoot one target.
It's laying down on the job.
- What's going on Ryan?
- Looks like right now,
not getting any
power to the lifter.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Our friend in green here,
is designed to stand upright
and fall back when hit.
But with all motor
functions currently down,
Dale will need to
sleuth out the reason.
- So I'm gonna disconnect
the power cable
from the box itself.
All right? Then
I'll reconnect it.
Try to get some on, power.
- Nope, still no power.
- Still no power.
- So as you can see,
it absolutely is
the power cable.
- That would be our problem.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
With the issue identified,
getting this target
back up and running
should be no more difficult
than swapping in a
fresh power cord.
- I'm gonna feed this through.
We're gonna do a quick test.
Turn the power on.
(flipping switch)
We wanna just give it a
small tap. (hammer tapping)
That tap replicates
a round hitting it,
causing a vibration
for it to go back down.
So all of our target
devices are operational now.
We're ready to get off the range
and let them continue training.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Meanwhile,
back at one of the four
containerized kitchens on site,
Staff Sergeant Qwané Hanes
is making good
progress of her own
with another truck full
of ingredients on site,
and dinner service
already underway.
- We good out here?
Yeah, so
- Don't forget salad.
- We got bread on the
back of the truck.
- Okay.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] But
to feed more than 200 soldiers,
Qwané will be prepping
a good bit more
than just salad and bread.
- We have beef and broccoli
with a savory teriyaki sauce
that's gonna be mixed in
with the vegetable blend.
And then on the side,
we'll have some carrots,
some basmati rice.
And then following that,
we have our fruit up there,
which is oranges.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Oranges aside,
it's a lot to heat up,
especially with just 20
minutes until serving time.
So to speed things along,
Qwané relies on what are
called, "Modern Burner Units,"
and yeah, there's an
abbreviation for those too.
- So we're gonna start our MBUs.
Our MBUs are powered
by our generators,
so our generator give to
us all the power we need
to light up the MBUs to make
the line hot, to boil water,
to cook the things
that we need to cook.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
That's usually the case anyway,
but on firing up the line,
Qwané is quick to spot an issue.
- Garner, this one
giving you a problem?
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
It's been a historic day
for the men and women of Fort
Carson in Colorado Springs.
- Fire!
(howitzer firing)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
With their first ever
Ivy Mass in full swing,
and the last of its
training missions
launching in the field of
simulated battle, (jet soaring)
but on the outskirts
of the action
in one of the four
containerized kitchens,
Staff Sergeant Qwané Hanes
has a very real
problem on her hands,
a Modern Burner Unit, or MBU,
that's decided to break down
in the middle of dinner prep.
- Our MBU mechanic,
he's trying to figure out
what exactly is wrong with it.
So we're still down one burner.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] Of course,
that's not going to stop
200+ hungry soldiers
from showing up in
15 minutes time,
so Qwané will have to improvise.
- Everything that's in the water
over the MBU that didn't work,
we'll just add it
to somewhere else.
That way, we'll be able
to continuously cook
and push out all the
food that we need to.
- [Voice Over Mike
Rowe] And while the last
of those menu items
warm up in a water bath,
Qwané and her crew waste no time
laying out the rest
of their spread.
- We got 10 minutes until
everybody's showing up,
so guys, come on,
let's get everything set up
on the line that we need.
So get utensils, put
the utensils in place.
I want the beef
moved right here.
Anbrose, I want
those to be last.
Yep.
- Wooh!
- That thing is hot.
- Very!
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe] It
came right down to the wire,
but this containerized kitchen
is finally ready
for dinner service,
just as soon as Qwané conducts
a little quality control test.
- Nice,
hot,
flavorful,
and delicious.
- Now you gotta hit it
with a little bit of that,
"Ooh-wee-wow!
(chuckling)
- I'm grateful that
we got everything done
in a timely manner.
I'm grateful that we
were able to bounce back,
get everything broken down,
get everything set up,
to still be able to provide
these soldiers a hot meal
in a timely manner for Ivy Mass.
(helicopter whirring)
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Back out on the battlefield.
First Lieutenant
Evan Delvaux's dinner
will have to wait because
somewhere down below,
there's one more enemy
target to take out.
And until Ground
Forces locate it,
he and his fellow Apache pilots
are stuck in a holding pattern.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Unbeknownst to Evan,
that clearance may come
sooner than expected,
because down on the
ground Forward Observer,
Seth Jackson and
his partner, Andrew,
have just clapped
eyes on one target
they've been
searching for all day,
a fuel truck buried
deep behind enemy lines.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
Fortunately for these two,
there are three
Apaches just waiting
to take this tanker out.
All they have to
do is call 'em in.
(helicopter whirring)
(Apache firing)
(Apache firing continues)
- Roger. One D30 destroyed,
approximately one zero
dismounts K, over.
- [Voice Over Mike Rowe]
To venture a guess,
Evan is not the only one
headed for the house,
because with the last of their
enemy targets now vanquished,
Ivy Mass and its
700+ participants
are finally done for the day.
And though there will
always be more training,
there is no doubt that
the lessons learned here
will prove critical to
advancing battle lines
and reducing
casualties in combat.
Combat they'll
fight, tirelessly,
for the likes of you and me
and for love of their country.
So the next time you
come across a member
of the United States
Army, just remember,
they are among our greatest
allies and How America Works.
(flag flapping)
- Full disclosure,
I never served in the Army.
I did wear the uniform though,
once upon a time for a day.
(scoffing)
This is me back in 2006, maybe?
I was doing a job
with 187th Battalion
at Fort Jackson
in North Carolina.
Very long day.
And I remember at the end of it,
the commanding officer told me,
he had never seen it so
difficult to recruit.
It's even more difficult today.
I just talked to a
general who told me,
"It hasn't been like
this since 1973,"
the year after they
got rid of the draft.
I get it. The armed services
aren't for everybody.
Some people don't
wanna be armed.
Some people don't wanna serve.
It's funny though,
how everybody wants
to be protected,
how we all wanna feel safe.
Funny how 1.1 million members
of this most extraordinary club
have paid for every single
freedom that we hold dear.
If you're not put
off by the dukes,
and you've heard the call,
you can answer it at
mikeroweworks.org/haw.