Photo By Master Sgt. Andy Yoshimura | British soldiers with 4th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, spar one another during...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A small patrol of eight soldiers slowly and carefully edged around the open St. Mere-Eglise Drop Zone, weapons at the ready, their eyes constantly scanning the tall weeds for anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly to their right, the sound of enemy gun fire.
Quickly and tactically, the patrol bounds back to a safer location … but not without taking a casualty.
Army Reserve soldiers from the United Kingdom’s 4th Parachute Regiment teamed up with their U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) counterparts during a two-week combined training exercise that not only allowed the opportunity to train together, but also enhanced the partnership between the U.K. and the U.S.
“We went out on, what we would call, a standing patrol into enemy territory, in which we came into enemy contact. We then went into in-normal contact drills, extraction, so on: getting on with it, beating back the enemy until we can get back in there, figure out our next maneuver, and get back to patrolling,” explained Pvt. Robert Ferrie, an infantryman with the 4th Parachute. “We also took on a casualty, so we had to do a casualty evacuation as well. All in all it went quite smoothly even when trying to adjust to [a different] weapons system.”
Throughout their exercise, the U.K. soldiers were trained on many different tasks such as medical aid, airborne operations, tactical movement, hand-to-hand combat.
They were also physically challenged by the Special Forces obstacle course, "Nasty Nick."
Although the 4th Parachute soldiers have enjoyed the tasks and drills given before them, adjusting to the differences in training and procedures have been the challenging parts, including the weather.
“One of the main issues on the drills was the different weapons systems that we don’t normally use, which threw a few of us for a loop. But once we got the hang of it and a got a rhythm, we were able to get moving through the drill pretty well,” Pvt. Michael Rice, 4th Parachute, agreed. “The temperature is very different here too. We are used to training in the freezing cold, but the big difference is the systems. But once you get used to that, a weapon is a weapon.”
“I wouldn’t say anything has been particularly hard,” explained Ferrie. “It’s just doing what we usually do, but in the humidity. Adjusting to the humidity has been hard.”
Medical training at the Reservoir International Training Facility proved to be the most valuable to many of the U.K. soldiers. It provided a real-life scenario in which the soldiers needed to rescue a seriously-injured fellow comrade from a mock Afghan village. The training included realistic casualties and a stressful environment to simulate combat overseas.
“The medical training has been most beneficial to me, because personally I don’t do enough of it. If you’re out on the ground and your [team member] goes down, you need to at least do some basic care for them until the medic gets to them,” said Ferrie.
“I think it’s brilliant. When you go out on operations, this type of training is invaluable. You can’t practice things enough,” Rice explained. “For us, we are like the smaller part of the army. So we have to get used to working with the Americans so it’s imperative to learn your procedures.”
Working together has also proven useful for both countries’ soldiers.
Spc. Amanda Regalado, 360th Civil Affairs Brigade out of Fort Jackson, S.C., recently had the opportunity to go to England and train with the U.K. soldiers in Operation Air Drop Warrior, a combined airborne operation the 4th Parachute has hosted for the past five years.
In 2011, USACAPOC(A) was able to return the favor by hosting the 4th Parachute at Fort Bragg in order to prepare them for a difficult deployment to Helmand province.
“The opportunity to have U.S. soldiers go to [another country] to work and train with another military was not only a great experience, but to be in their environment and learn their culture was really good as well,” said Regalado, whose military occupation is civil affairs and relies on effective communication and building rapport. “Having a good relationship with them is important because later down the road, if you need their support they may be more willing to help if the rapport is already established.”
“I think [combined training] is rather good because wherever either [army] goes the other will be as well because we have quite a strong coalition, especially with everything that happens in the world,” Ferrie agreed. “You know, uncertain world, uncertain times, it’s good to train together and get used to working with each other, learn how each other plays so we can find some sort of middle ground.”
| Date Taken: | 07.26.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 07.26.2013 13:35 |
| Story ID: | 110884 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 126 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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