NATO evaluator course delivers two historic milestones

Photo By Sgt. Bethany McMeans | Capt. Hector Rueda, Observer Controller team for Joint Multinational Readiness Center, talks to a member of the Georgian Army in the Tactical Operating Center for an exercise in the Evaluator's Training Course held during Combined Resolve II. Combined Resolve II is a U.S. Army Europe-directed multinational exercise at the Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels Training areas, including more than 4,000 participants from 13 allied and partner countries (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Bethany E. McMeans).  

BW, GERMANY

05.20.2014

Story by Sgt. 1st Class James Brown 

131st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

HOHENFELS, Germany – Two historic events began here, May 17, as a NATO Evaluator Training Course (ETC) was held in a United States training area for the first time and four United States Army Soldiers who are a part of the class are training to become the first United States Army Europe (USAREUR) Soldiers to be certified NATO evaluators.

The NATO evaluator certification course, which will run from May 17-21, is comprised of 25 students from 13 countries.

According to Capt. Petero Lole, lead 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command planner for the Combined Resolve II exercise here, the basis for these events was the certification of a unit from the nation of Georgia that is an allocated force for the NATO ready response force for fiscal year 2015.

“The ETC and the evaluation of the Georgian company are both NATO events conducted alongside the Combined Resolve II exercise,” Lole said. “These are both critical events for the United States Army Europe and particularly JMTC, because it’s one of the stepping stones for our NATO alliance and our NATO ready concept that we are conducting right now.”

Georgia’s participation in Combined Resolve II led to the ETC being held in an American training area for the first time.

“This event was supposed to be held in Georgia,” said Lole. “Georgia requested for the U.S. to host the class here, because that company was going to be part of the exercise (Combined Resolve II). If a country commits a force to the NATO response force, they have an obligation to host this event. The U.S. is hosting this event in a very unique situation. In order to facilitate the Georgians getting evaluated, you need a course that goes along with that and that is the ETC. So the course will evaluate the students, so they can turn around and evaluate the Georgian company. At the same time they’re being evaluated by the staff to get their certification.”

One possible byproduct of the ETC being held here is the possibility of other events coming here.

“The course being held here is important at the national level, at the U.S. Army and EUCOM level, because the joint and multi-national (participation) is what we’re trying to emphasize to the rest of the DoD and also to NATO that, yes we can do NATO events here, whether it’s a squad, platoon, company or a 3-star level exercise,” said Lole. “We can do those both here and at the Joint Multinational Training Command up in Grafenwoehr.”

The other historic aspect of the ETC is the four Soldiers who could become the first certified NATO evaluators from USAREUR. Once these Soldiers successfully complete the course, they can go to different countries and certify units.

One of those Soldiers, Staff Sgt. Brent Rhoades, an observer/controller from the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, said he was excited for the opportunity to become a NATO evaluator.

“It’s an honor to be one of the first American Soldiers to be taking this course,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being in a joint-nation environment and working with Soldiers from other countries.”

The course director for the ETC, Lt. Col. Morten Mo from Norway, also stressed the value of working together.

“The ones taking the value first and foremost are the partner countries,” Mo said. “They are really taking value out of this, because they can see NATO standards, take them back home and use them there. But they also get to interact and learn from each other. All of these people are coming here, because they want to be multinational and they want to seek cooperation with NATO. We do that putting them together. NATO is not only partners; it is also partners and allies.”

For more information on Combined Resolve II, go to the official exercise website at www.eur.army.mil/jmtc/CombinedResolve or check out the exercise on social media by searching for #CombinedResolve or visiting the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command’s social media @7thArmyJMTC.

• Date Taken: 05.20.2014
• Date Posted: 05.20.2014 13:02
• Story ID: 130463
• Location: BW, DE