FORT BRAGG  — This month, Army Special Forces candidates will participate in the Robin Sage training exercise, held across 15 North Carolina counties as the final test of their Special Forces Qualification Course training.

Between March 11-24, students will participate in this exercise before graduating the course and moving on to their first assignments in Special Forces.

Robin Sage is a two-week culmination exercise. The participants are students at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, based at Fort Bragg.

The exercise’s fictional country of Pineland spans Rowan, Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Davidson, Guilford, Hoke, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Richmond, Scotland, Stanly and Union counties.

Throughout the exercise, Special Forces candidates and Robin Sage role players not only conduct training missions such as controlled assaults and key-leader engagements but also live, eat and sleep in civilian areas.

All Robin Sage movements have been coordinated with public safety officials in the towns and counties hosting the training. Residents may hear blank gunfire and see occasional flares. Controls are in place to ensure no risk to people or property.

Residents with concerns should contact local law enforcement officials, who will then contact exercise control officials.

With the help of civilian authorities and local residents, Robin Sage has been conducted since 1974.

For the Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, safety is a top priority during training. The following measures have been implemented:

• Formal written notification to the chiefs of law enforcement agencies in the affected counties, with a follow-up visit from a unit representative.

• All civilian and nonstudent military participants are briefed on procedures to follow if there is contact with law enforcement officials.

• Students will wear civilian clothes if the situation warrants, as determined by the instructors, and will wear a brown armband.

• Training areas and vehicles used during exercises are clearly labeled.

Military service members from units across Fort Bragg will also support the exercise. They act as realistic opposing forces and guerrilla freedom fighters, also known as Pineland’s resistance movement.

These troops play a critical role in the training. To add realism of the exercise, civilian volunteers throughout the state act as role players.

Robin Sage is the U.S. military’s premiere unconventional warfare exercise and the final test of over a year’s worth of training for aspiring Special Forces soldiers.

Candidates are placed in an environment of political instability characterized by armed conflict, forcing soldiers to analyze and solve problems to meet the challenges of “real world” training.

Questions about the exercise should be referred to the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center’s public affairs office at 910-396-9394 or by email at pao_swcs@socom.mil.

In the event of an emergency, contact local law enforcement.