US Army rehearses digging mass temporary graves at Fort Bragg

Mixed · 2US Army soldiers have trained to bury large numbers of fallen troops in temporary graves, rehearsing a response to heavy casualties in a high-intensity war. 1 2 Mixed · 2The exercise took place at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and involved the 3rd Corps Sustainment Command, the 20th Engineer Brigade and religious support personnel including chaplains. 1 2 Right · 1The Daily Mail says the drill took place on October 22 and that news of it only reached the public later, prompting public concern about the motive at a time of possible war. 3

Right · 1The Washington Examiner identifies it as Phase II of Operation Dragon Covenant, held earlier in October and described as the first openly disclosed exercise testing mass burial at scale; it used simulated skeletal models and sealed water containers in place of remains. 4 Centre · 1Newsweek reports that the Army said it has not needed to do this on a large scale since the Korean War, and that in Iraq and Afghanistan US forces instead evacuated the dead quickly to the US. 1 Mixed · 2The graves are meant as a temporary measure so that bodies stay preserved until they can be identified and repatriated to the United States. 1 2

Centre · 1According to the Army, a standard temporary plot has five trenches holding 100 casualties in total; soldiers filled each plot in an average of one hour and 15 minutes, and eight bulldozers and four excavators could bury up to 2,400 soldiers in 24 hours. 1 Right · 1The Washington Examiner, citing the Army, reports that crews found the old doctrine of five trenches holding 100 bodies each too narrow for modern equipment, widening trenches to 15 feet with a nine-foot pillar of undisturbed soil between them so bulldozers do not crush remains, and cutting digging time from about three hours per trench to one hour and 15 minutes. 4 Mixed · 2Sergeant 1st Class Delbert Ruede of the 3rd Corps Sustainment Command said the exercise let the Army look critically at how it manages its fallen, adding: "If we went to war tomorrow, we would be making this up as we went along." 1 2

Centre · 1Newsweek says it was the first time in more than 20 years that Army chaplains trained to help with battlefield gravedigging. 1 Right · 1The Washington Examiner says 130 religious support personnel took part, and that Army planning indicated units doing the burials could suffer physical, emotional and spiritual exhaustion within four to six hours, requiring rapid rotation. 4 Left · 1Metro reports that faith leaders said chaplains may be unable to stop for graveside services in combat, especially if they do not know a soldier's religion, and that blessing potential burial sites in advance was agreed as a way to reassure families. 2

Left · 1Metro places the exercise against a backdrop of heightened geopolitical tension, noting that the Pentagon this week was reported by Reuters to have asked NATO states including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to tone down rhetoric about Russia; the Pentagon declined to comment on the allegations. 2 Right · 1The Washington Examiner reports the news prompted social media speculation that the drill preceded a ground operation in Iran, and says the Army framed it purely as testing capabilities that had grown rusty; the paper's own view is that likely operations against Iran would not involve casualties on that scale. 4 Right · 1The Daily Mail links the drill to fears of a looming war with Iran, reporting that Admiral Brad Cooper, the top US Middle East commander, has reportedly briefed President Donald Trump on options to resume attacks on Iran; it does not report the Army tying the exercise to any operation. 3

Mixed · 2The Daily Mail and The Times of India, quoting the Army, say the exercise was a "test of concept" for large-scale battlefield temporary interment, and the Mail adds that nearly 37,000 US personnel died in the Korean War. 3 5 Centre · 1The Times of India says the dig was held near the St. Mere Eglise Drop Zone as part of Dragon Covenant; earlier trials with standard backhoes took about three hours per trench for ten remains, whereas 27th Engineer Battalion operators using D6 bulldozers completed a 20-remains trench in an average of one hour and 15 minutes. 5 Right · 1According to the Daily Mail, operators held the bulldozer blade 18 inches above the ground so loose soil fell into the trench, and model skeletons and water containers were later uncovered uncrushed; engineers noted soil type (dry sand, frozen ground, clay, mud) would affect the process. 3

Right · 1The Daily Mail reports that the findings will be used to update Army guidance and that a further exercise next spring will test the process in daylight and blackout conditions using night-vision systems. 3 Right · 1Lt Col Ruska, chaplain for the 3rd Corps Sustainment Command, said teams cannot stop a 24-hour interment operation for individual religious services, and Maj Warwick Fuller consecrated the site with a prayer before digging began. 3