Photo By Staff Sgt. Brendan Stephens | A Polish Army paratrooper watches an allied airborne operation May 19, 2014, over...... read more read more
Subscribe
DRAWSKO-POMORSKIE, Poland - U.S. Army Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, conducted airborne training exercises alongside their paratrooper counterparts from Canada’s 9th Princess Patricia Combat Light Infantry and Poland’s 16th Airborne Battalion May 19 at a drop zone near Drawsko-Pomorskie, Poland.
The combined-forces event was held as part of a larger unscheduled exercise to demonstrate commitment to NATO collective defense and sustain military interoperability. The 173rd Airborne Brigade has approximately 600 paratroopers training with forces in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to further build relationships between allies.
“Today we will be jumping with the Polish and Canadian paratroopers giving our Soldiers a chance to earn foreign jump wings, and vice versa,” said Capt. Teddy Borawski, commander of C Company, 1st. Bn., 503rd Inf. Regt., the office in charge of the day’s exercise.
As is tradition between allied forces, paratroopers may earn another military’s parachutist badge after performing an airborne jump led by that nation’s jumpmasters. U.S. Army Soldiers use this training to build skills and relationships, and may display one set of foreign jump wings on their Army Service Uniform.
Each nation’s airborne badge varies in style, but paratroopers from these three militaries, and across the world, also identify themselves by wearing maroon berets.
“Everywhere you go in the military, no matter what country, the maroon beret is known for airborne and it’s a matter of pride to wear it,” said Polish Army Capt. Arkadiusz Skrzek, 2nd Rifle Company Commander, 16th Airborne Battalion.
The paratroopers from each respective NATO force were intermingled during the pre-jump sustainment training in which they received safety instructions from the exercise’s jumpmaster.
Only a few meters away from the “bird”--a CH-47 Chinook from the U.S. Army--the paratroopers rehearsed safety procedures and received their final instructions.
“We’re going to go up in rotations with the two birds, circle the area to test wind and weather conditions, then drop a test load in the designated drop zone before the guys jump,” said Staff Sgt. Andrew Smith, a paratrooper assigned to 1st Bn., 503rd Inf. Reg.
The parachutes and harnesses were laid out as the mixed-nation jump teams were called to gear up. The paratroopers and jumpmasters helped one another secure their jump gear before boarding the aircrafts. Guided to their seats and strapped in by the jumpmasters, the paratroopers went airborne.
Within minutes, and a couple of fly-by circles in the air, jumpmasters gave the order to jump, and one-by-one the first team of paratroopers disappeared down the Chinook’s rear ramp and into the Polish sky.
“This is a great opportunity to share techniques and tactics, while earning foreign jump wings,” Borawski said. “We will culminate [the training] with a wing-exchange ceremony in the coming days.”
Paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade are slated to continue training alongside their Polish counterparts through the upcoming months.
| Date Taken: | 05.19.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.27.2014 05:57 |
| Story ID: | 131127 |
| Location: | DRAWSKO-POMORSKIE, PL |
| Web Views: | 694 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, US, Canadian and Polish soldiers train for allied airborne operations, by Brian Godette, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT