The South Carolina National Guard, in collaboration with other military and civil assets, conducted a training exercise at Clarks Hill Training Center, in Plumb Branch, South Carolina, May 17 to 19, 2024.

Palmetto Fury is a joint-service, multi-domain exercise, created to provide an opportunity for South Carolina National Guard Soldiers to sharpen their skills and prepare for any mission for which they are called. The exercise included infantry, cyber, fixed wing and rotary aviation, Marines, air defense artillery, and other military and civil elements.

According to U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Sean Reynolds, Standardization Pilot and Chief Warrant Officer for 59th Aviation Troop Command (ATC), South Carolina National Guard, planning for Palmetto Fury began several years ago.

“About three years ago, it dawned on us that Large-Scale Combat Operations (LSCO) and Multi Domain Operations (MDO) was going to become a reality,” said Reynolds. “It was how the military was looking at the next large conflict with our near peers, and with our peers. So we took it upon ourselves to go ahead and define what MDO and LSCO meant to us, in the uniqueness of the South Carolina National Guard. So we did a little bit of brainstorming, and we also realized that the next fight also requires the Army, the Air Force, the Marines, and the Navy, the Coast Guard and the civil response units all to have to be able to work together to accomplish similar objectives.”

One of those peers who the Guardsmen collaborated with were members of the U.S. Marines Corps Forces Reserves.

“We provide fire support elements for joint and allied expeditionary forces,” said U.S Marine Maj. David Christie, with the 4th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO), out of Palm Beach, Florida. “This was a great opportunity for us to come out here, talk to the Apaches, be the eyes on the ground for them, and call out some targets for them in support of the ground maneuver. Overall, this has been a great exercise for us to work on large-scale combat operations, which is something we need to shift more to, as opposed to talking about or thinking about insurgencies, because that is what we expect the next fight to be.”

“Because the fight could come to our shores. It’s not just the military, it’s not just the 218th Infantry, but it’s also the Charleston Fire Department,” said Reynolds. “So we began to create a training scenario that incorporated a joint requirement.”

In the training scenario, the city of Atlanta, Georgia has been taken over by a fictional force. This force is attempting to move east towards the coast to take over additional cities and make landing easier for their maritime forces.

“The joint fight is not something we get to practice a lot, especially at the tactical level, so this is a great opportunity for us to link in and iron out some stuff,” said Christie. “Marine Corps lingo is a bit different (than other branches). So, this is a learning experience for all of us, and we have to find a way to mesh together to make this work for a future fight.”

During the scenario South Carolina National Guard forces are fighting and holding enemy forces at bay in Atlanta, and Clarks Hill is a support and resupply point for U.S. ground and air troops.

“The FARP (forward arming and refueling point) that is set up here at Clarks Hill, is literally the objective for Palmetto Fury,” said Reynolds. “That gives our Apaches and our lift and cargo assets a place to come to refuel and rearm, and then head to Atlanta for a reattack during the next Palmetto Fury. That’s our goal.”

In order to make Clarks Hill available and accessible, infantry troops had to be inserted in to fight and reclaim the area.

“We had a huge operation out here where each squad had an objective that they had to take over,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Todd Lefebvre, a squad leader with Co. C, 1-118th Infantry, South Carolina National Guard. “Our mission was to conduct 600 to 700 meter movements, clear the objectives, set up ORPs (objective rally points) and then set up ambushes. We took every objective and did a phenomenal job.”

“The best part of the training was taking Objective Tiger,” said Lefebvre. “That was a big compound with six or seven buildings, and a lot of OPFOR (opposing forces). They had heavy machine guns, and they had snipers. We were able to do a lot of training. We conducted medical, all of our basic movements, split into teams, cleared buildings, and CQB (close quarters battle). It was really, really good training.”

Months prior to the exercise, the Soldiers from Co. C, 1-118th Infantry had the opportunity to meet and train with the aviation Soldiers they would be working with during the exercise.

“We actually had aviation units come to our armory and we learned loading and unloading, and safety on the birds,” said Lefebvre.

After the success of Palmetto Fury 2024, discussion of future training exercises has already begun.

“Palmetto Fury 2024 was beyond our imagination of how successful this was,” said Reynolds. “The Soldiers are absolutely doing what they always do. They are doing their individual taks and their team tasks. But right now, they are doing that inside of a joint environment. They are watching the Marines. They are watching the F-16s, and they are seeing how their capabilities fit inside the big fight, and it matters. For instance, the 351st is purifying water, because the town of North’s water supply was destroyed during the battle last night. We as a military have to understand the effects of our war fight. It’s not just eliminating the bad guys, it’s also helping the entire AOR in whatever frustrations are going on here. In this particular scenario, the water system failed. So they are going to feed the (water system) until it gets repaired. And isn’t that the magic of the National guard, right? Our job is never over. The National Guard is everywhere, all the time.”