A Helen man was part of a group that successfully completed the rigors of an Army force-on-force training exercise in Fort Polk, La., in late July.

Army Sgt. Andrew Murphy completed training as part of the Company B, 1-87 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

The troops, with more than 5,000 participants from more than 30 states across the country, spent nearly the month of July at Fort Polk as part of the training rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center.

Their experience included deployment and staging at Fort Polk followed by more than 10 days of offensive and defensive missions in the post maneuver areas against a real opposing force.

The maneuver training is designed to challenge all the components of the maneuver brigade, including infantry, artillery and aviation operations, engineering and reconnaissance tasks, logistics and resupply and medical support and personnel replacements.

The Joint Readiness Training Center allows Army units to conduct combat training in a realistic environment that features a well-trained opposing force, civilian role-players on the battlefield, high-tech systems that monitor the action, and observer-controllers to evaluate unit actions.

JRTC is one of the Army’s three combat training centers at which brigade-sized units can conduct realistic training against an opposing force. JRTC specializes in light infantry warfare and operations. It is considered by soldiers as the Super Bowl of Army training.