The US military has revealed details of a recent exercise in North Carolina, where troops practiced temporary burials on a large scale. The exercise, dubbed Dragon Covenant, took place near Fort Bragg on October 20-21. According to the 3rd Corps Sustainment Command, the drill aimed to test the military's ability to manage and bury deceased personnel in a high-intensity combat environment.
The exercise involved engineers using D6 bulldozers to dig trenches for 20 mock burials in an average of 1 hour and 15 minutes. The "bodies" used in the exercise were actually mannequins made of skeleton models and water containers. Based on these results, the military estimates that a company of engineers equipped with eight bulldozers and four excavators could prepare and close trenches for 2,400 bodies in 24 hours.
The military's current doctrine calls for plots with five parallel trenches for 100 bodies. However, the exercise showed that this doctrine needs to be revised. The spacing between rows was increased from 7 to 9 feet, and the width of the trenches was expanded to 15 feet. These changes will be used to update the military's death management and religious support guidelines.
The goal of the exercise was to preserve the bodies for identification and repatriation to the United States. In contrast, during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, killed soldiers were quickly returned home, making such large-scale burials unnecessary. The exercise also involved around 130 religious personnel, including military chaplains from the 82nd Airborne Division.
According to Sergeant First Class Delbert Ruede, the 3rd Corps Sustainment Command's mortuary affairs manager, the exercise highlighted the need for flexibility in death management. He noted that if the military were to go to war tomorrow, it would have to improvise. An officer also cited the challenges of providing individualized religious services in a high-intensity combat environment.
The Dragon Covenant exercise is the first large-scale test of its kind since the Korean War. The military says it will use the results to revise its guidelines for death management and religious support. The exercise demonstrates the military's efforts to prepare for a range of scenarios, including large-scale casualties.
The US military's temporary burial exercise in North Carolina highlights the complexities of managing deceased personnel in high-intensity combat environments. The results of the exercise will inform updates to the military's death management doctrine and procedures. Key changes will focus on preserving bodies for identification and repatriation.
Key points
- The US military conducted a large-scale exercise to test its ability to temporarily bury 2,400 soldiers in 24 hours.
- The exercise, called Dragon Covenant, took place near Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and involved engineers digging trenches for mock burials.
- The results of the exercise will be used to update the military's death management and religious support guidelines.
