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He highlighted how the \u201cTropic Lightning\u201d Division performed a number of HIMARS infiltrations to Luzon Strait islands during recent Philippine wargames. Indeed, Exercises Balikatan and Salaknib allowed 25th ID to test new tactics and technologies from April to June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ranger-qualified general added that the Army wants maximum flexibility in \u201cnew technologies, drones, counter-drones, electronic warfare, software-enabled technologies, and less [reliance] on a program of record that, by the time you receive it, is obsolete and you\u2019re stuck with it for too long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, Bartholomees praised the Infantry Squad Vehicle that makes his soldiers \u201cmore lethal, light and mobile.\u201d By increasing the mobility of his two infantry brigades, it helped shed a lot of needless vehicles. \u201cInfantry brigades had too much stuff, too many vehicles, they were too unwieldy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Balikatan and Salaknib were valuable to 25th ID because \u201cyou don\u2019t really know if [equipment] is going to work until you operate with it in these environments,\u201d Bartholomees explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also highlighted the democratization of electronic-warfare capabilities across units, in addition to the transformation of communication systems. \u201cWe\u2019re one of two divisions in the U.S. Army that\u2019s conducting what\u2019s called Next-Generation Command and Control,\u201d he explained. This entails moving to smaller form factors and software-enabled systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pushing new capabilities into frontline units is vital for 25th ID, especially when so far from home in places like the Philippines. \u201cShipping capability costs really drive forward the need for us to innovate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One response has been the Forge, an expeditionary capability that allows soldiers to manufacture spare parts using 3D printing, for example. Bartholomees said the Forge is important \u201cbecause it\u2019s helping to thicken our sustainment lines by creating capability, creating parts and manufacturing forward where we can\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said 25th ID\u2019s fielding of new technologies will continue unabated: \u201cWe\u2019re literally transforming all the time,\u201d although \u201cwe do have to manage how we do this, and we have to be disciplined in this approach.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Because of HIMARS, Maj. Gen. Bartholomees pointed out his \u201cdivision artillery is really what transformed the most.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":120851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":45,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"5":{"categories":["your-army","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-army"}}},"categories":[45,160,29,86,11,14,36,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3492],"class_list":["post-73097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-daily-news-roundup","category-digital-show-dailies","category-eurosatory","category-global","category-land","category-newsletters","category-training-sim"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2GLZGHUM7JB37LB23M7QEAQSUA","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/asia-pacific\/2026\/06\/17\/us-armys-tropic-lightning-division-ponders-transformation-lessons-from-philippine-war-games\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n