Encompassing over 640,000 acres of California's high desert, the U.S. Army National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin is the Army's premier combat training center for large units.  For two, non stop, weeks (out or a month long rotation) of live fire and laser enhanced force-on-force battles, battalion and brigade sized units take on an Opposing Force (OpFor) drawn from the crack 11^th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR), Black Horse Regiment, which is permanently stationed at Fort Irwin. It is common for battles to have forces of 5,000 soldiers engaged in an intense struggle, and a test of new digital equipment in the spring of 2001 involved nearly 15,000 soldiers in simulated combat.   

It is intense training such as this that honed U.S. Army forces for the 100 hour Gulf War and lead many to regard the NTC as our "secret" weapon for that campaign.  The techniques used at NTC revolutionized Army training in the 1980's and continue to be the combat readiness cornerstone of our modern Army today.  As Secretary of the Army White, a former Colonel of the 11^th ACR,  said:  "It (NTC) is one of the best things we ever did," when speaking of the changes in the Army following the Vietnam conflict.

To observe the movements of the 11^th ACR from a hilltop or in the middle of the battlefield at Fort Irwin is an experience long remembered.  Watching as the forces move decisively to defend or attack, is well worth the trek to the high desert.  Through the efforts of the West Point Society of the Inland Empire/Palm Springs, NTC and the 11^th ACR graciously host several "See-A-Battle" opportunities each year.  During temperate (for the desert) weather in the spring and fall, groups of 20 are afforded the opportunity to witness the realism of the exercises and to visit the high tech Command Center ("Star Wars building") from which the battles are monitored and controlled.