Fort Indiantown Gap Holds 2024 Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony
The Fort Indiantown Gap (FTIG) Training Center held it’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and reception at the FTIG Community Club on the evening of Dec. 6, 2024, and it was attended by the largest number of guests to date!
This year’s ceremony featured:
Live Christmas music performed by the 28th Infantry Division Band Ensemble and Northern Lebanon Elementary School Choir;
Words of inspiration from Brig. Gen. John Pippy, Pennsylvania’s acting adjutant general and head of the DMVA;
The appearance of Santa Claus who arrived in style in a M-ATV tactical vehicle that was brilliantly illuminated with holiday lights, and operated by two of his Christmas Elves;
An honor guard of elves from the Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy forming a candy cane arch for Santa to walk through; and
The lighting of the giant Christmas Tree that displayed more red, white, and blue Christmas lights than ever before!
Following the ceremony, a reception was held in the FTIG Community Club Ballroom which was almost filled to capacity with guests, and children waiting patiently to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. The reception also featured many different types of refreshments. FTIG USO provided face painting and small gifts were available for the children.
Preparation for this year’s ceremony started shortly after last year’s event, and a great deal of thought, planning and preparation by numerous organizations at FTIG ensured this year’s event was a great success!
Warfighter Exercises Return to Fort Indiantown Gap
After a brief interlude, Fort Indiantown Gap (FTIG), is once again scheduled to host Warfighter Exercises (WFX), this time with two scheduled in calendar year 2025.
The WFX’s are training events that utilize computer simulations to train and evaluate Army division-size elements on Mission Command in large-scale combat operations.
The last WFX was held at FTIG in 2023, and it saw more than 2,100 soldiers participate in the exercise. While the main unit participating in this exercise was from New York, many other soldiers traveled from all over the U.S. to FTIG to participate in the exercise.
The FTIG Training Center in conjunction with the 213th Regional Support Group (213 RSG), the Mission Command Training Center (MCTC), and several DMVA organizations on FTIG, will be providing or coordinating all life support requirements (billeting, feeding, fuel etc.), as well as the computer simulation systems, training facilities and subject matter experts to support the exercises.
WFX 25-03 is scheduled to take place from Jan. 27-Feb. 6, 2025, with the 42ID being the primary training audience for the exercise. The second exercise, WFX 26-01, is scheduled for the 1st Quarter of FY26, from 25 Oct. 3-Nov. 3, 2025. The training audience for WFX 26-01 will be the 29ID.
In addition to bringing large numbers of training personnel and equipment onto the Installation for the exercises, the influx has a significant positive impact on the local economies and businesses surrounding FTIG, through the increased spending of those personnel.