Army trains for modern battlefield with Texas exercise focused on speed, technology

FORT HOOD, Texas — The Army is embracing state-of-the-art technology to adapt to the evolving demands of the modern battlefield. 

‘Operation Hood Strike’ brought units from the Army's active duty, reserves and National Guard to Fort Hood, Texas for a rigorous, hands-on stress test. Canadian troops joined the training too.

"We're a total Army. We're a total engineer regiment. And we will fight with them in wartime. So we have to train with them here in peacetime," Col. Justin Pritchard, 36th Engineer Brigade Commander, said. 

Troops were thrown into a realistic combat scenario. Their mission was to cross Lake Belton and close in on enemy territory. 

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Engineers built a seven float raft consisting of two ramps and five bays. Capt. Bruce Burgener, 43rd Multi-Role Bridge Company Commander, said it's the standard ramp and bay configuration to move M1 Abrams tanks. 

"Anything less than that won't move them," Burgener said. "Our goal is to get as much throughput as possible for friendly forces."

Burgener said his company has received "a lot of new troops," and that the training gives his higher-ranked troops the opportunity to work with the newer ones. He broke this training into three phases: ‘crawl, walk, run.’ 

"At this stage, we're about at the walk stage for our company," Burgener said. "So we're slowly working towards getting to a run stage where we'd be able to work a lot more efficiently with our new soldiers."

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Once all the equipment and personnel are in place, the assault across the water begins. The Texas National Guard swooped in with Chinook helicopters to provide recon and dropped sections of a bridge into the water. 

Lt. Col. Travis Shahan, 961st Engineer Battalion Commander, said air assets are crucial to dropping large payloads in hard-to-reach areas.

"Sometimes, when you build a bridge, there's a little bit of difficulty getting all the equipment you need to the water," Shahan said. 

Troops crossing the bridge already know what the enemy territory looks like because it's been mapped out at the tactical command center. The map allows every soldier, from the highest rank down to line infantry, to know how they fit into the mission. 

"If you're working in an office, it's pretty easy to plan this stuff. But when you're out here and the aircraft are flying here overhead at midnight... It's much harder when you're when you're out here trying to execute," Maj. Salem Maud, the Battalion Executive Officer, said. 

'Operation Hood Strike’ happens every year at Fort Hood, but each year is different since the modern battlefield is constantly changing. While Col. Adam Rasmussen, 420th Engineer Brigade Commander, said the Army is trying to get soldiers out of harms way, he said war is "still a very much a human endeavor."

"We want soldiers who can innovate, and there's no better person to innovate how to get a human out of the breach than a human who has been through the pain of a breach," Rasmussen said. "That human knows how important it is to get an automated system or an unmanned or an AI system into the breach instead of a human."

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In 2025, the Army set a goal to recruit 60,500 active duty troops, according to the Army Recruiting Command. They cracked their goal by 103.47% and recruited 62,050 soldiers. 

The Recruiting Command reported the Army Reserves aimed to recruit 14,320 troops in 2025. The Reserves fell short, only meeting 86.76% of their goal with 12,426 recruits. 

"The way we recruit and retain is that we get them out here doing very challenging but rewarding training. They may not enjoy it 100% that minute, but by the end of the day, they think they have just done the coolest thing in the world," Rasmussen said.  

"They signed up to do just this," Pritchard said. "Anytime we can get out and do what they signed up for the Army to do… That just encourages you, like, this is why I served. This is why I want to stay in the army and continue serving the nation."

The units involved in ‘Operation Hood Strike’ are not preparing for a specific deployment. Rasmussen said the training is still critical to bring the newer soldiers up to speed. 

"Every hour these soldiers are on the battlefield, they become more lethal," Rasmussen said.