Subscribe
HOHENFELS, Germany - Exercises such as Combined Resolve II help to facilitate interoperability growth by allowing 15 allied and partner countries to experience full-scale training opportunities that include ground support such as Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, as well as air support from Black Hawks, Apaches and Lightweight Utility Helicopters.
Combined Resolve II is a U.S. Army Europe-led, multinational exercise at the Joint Multinational Training Command’s Hohenfels and Grafenwoehr Training Areas. The exercise, May 15-June 30, includes more than 4,000 participants and trains the U.S. Army’s European Rotational Force, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, alongside allies and partners from 14 European countries.
“The main reason we are here is we have to support our troops who are doing the training for the European Rotational Force,” said Austrian Army Maj. Thomas Geiger, commander of 2nd Light Transport Helicopter Squadron. “They need a little transport capacity to do the airlifts so we are here to conduct tactical air transports in a multinational area.”
The training enables countries to prepare for future operations on the battlefield.
“It [training] seems to be very professional and we like to train together because it can bring us both up to new heights and we can learn from each other in terms of operational experience and real war scenarios,” said Austrian Capt. Christian Sperlich.
“This is the first time for us to train with Soldiers from other countries,” added Austrian Master Sgt. Thomas Mullner, of 1st Squadron.
Maintaining flexibility is essential when working in a multinational setting as well as being able to adapt, Sperlich concluded.
Exercises like Combined Resolve II enable allies to share skills and improve partnerships.
“Americans are familiar with procedures while on the battlefield and so I think we can learn a lot,” said Geiger. “We are like a sponge ready to get some information because Americans know how to do it [procedures used during operations].”
Geiger alluded that the Austrians had strengths in other areas such as their ability to fly in mountainous areas.
Austria’s terrain is similar to that seen in Hohenfels, Germany which is an opportunity for Austrian pilots to showcase their flying skills.
The Austrian pilots train to fly low and practice to build extraordinary maneuverability skills. The skills are useful as an added defensive mechanism, Sperlich stated.
“The Austrian pilots are very skilled in what they do,” said U.S. Army Maj. Eric James from Glasgow, Montana the operations officer for 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, Katterbach, Germany. “They are a very capable force. They fly very well and it’s been very pleasant to work with them.”
When bringing multinational forces together in an exercise such as Combined Resolved II, there are usually challenges, whether great or seemingly small. Overcoming those obstacles is one of the reasons the U.S. conducts these exercises.
“There are always challenges when working with other countries and knowing how they do things,” said James. “There are different tactics or procedures that they’ve put into place and making sure everyone has a common understanding of what needs to take place when we’re out there flying.”
A common challenge when working in a multinational setting is communication. Fortunately, the language barrier is not as big of an issue for aviation as it is for ground troops.
“Language isn’t a problem because, as a pilot, you should have pretty good English due to having to use the radio,” said Sperlich. English is the language spoken over the airwaves regardless of nationality or the location one is flying, added Sperlich.
Even with English as the common language, there are still hurdles to overcome.
“The only real challenge I’ve found in working with the Austrians is a slight accent barrier. Sometimes it’s hard to understand them. Other than that, the Austrian pilots have been great, safe and efficient,” said U.S. Army Spc. Matthew Holder from Washington, Oklahoma, an air traffic controller with Company F, 5th Battalion, 158th General Support Aviation Battalion.
Another primary challenge when dealing with communication are the different military acronyms and jargon, said Mullner.
A noticeable difference between the Austrian and U.S. is the size of the country’s militaries.
Mullner said the U.S. military has several different factions such as the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines whereas Austria just has an Army.
Geiger said the size difference between the two country’s militaries is a benefit, though, because of the experience the different factions are bringing to the table during Combined Resolve II.
“We’re looking forward to getting some information from Americans because they’re [the U.S. military] a really big and great Army,” said Geiger.
In order to maintain this partnership with the NATO allies it is important to continue the joint multinational exercises and getting more comfortable working together, said James.
“America has a lot of aircrafts, a lot of personnel and we [Austria] are not used to doing operations which involve a lot of aircrafts and personnel so that’s a great thing to be here and train these missions,” said Geiger.
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: | 05.27.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.28.2014 09:51 |
| Story ID: | 131298 |
| Location: | BW, DE |
| Web Views: | 192 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Interoperability takes flight, by SGT Bethany McMeans, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT