NATO allies hold breaching course in Poland

Photo By Sgt. Lisa Vines | A multinational group of paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and Poland's 6th Airborne Brigade pull security and detonate an explosive charge during a breaching exercise May 27, 2014, near Drawsko-Pomorskie, Poland. Last month, U.S. Army paratroopers began unscheduled training with allied forces in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to increase interoperability between their formations. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Lisa Vines, 382nd Public Affairs Detachment/Released)  

DRAWSKO-POMORSKIE, POLAND

05.27.2014

Story by Spc. Lisa Vines  

382nd Public Affairs Detachment

DRAWSKO, Poland - U.S., Canadian and Polish paratroopers began the live-fire component of a multi-day breach training course near Drawsko-Pomorskie, Poland, May 27.

The multinational force from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and Poland’s 6th Airborne Brigade have been training together in Poland for over a month as part of an unscheduled land forces exercise in the region to demonstrate NATO resolve.

“We’re conducting breach training, which focuses on mechanical breaching, ballistic breaching and explosive breaching,” said Sgt. 1st Class Stuart Sword, a paratrooper with 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne, who served as the course’s lead instructor.

In integrated pairs, soldiers from the three allied nations rotated through stations specifically built to be destroyed, allowing the paratroopers to practice skills and strategies while working as a combined force.

At one station focusing on ballistics, the integrated groups used a 12-gauge shotgun to defeat lock mechanisms, then used brute force on the doors by knocking them open with a battering ram.

The allied training event gave the soldiers a chance to compare techniques.

“[Breach operations] vary a bit from the U.S. Army, and it is important for our young Soldiers to understand there’s a different technique that our allies utilize,” Sword said.

At the explosive-breach station, paratroopers from each nation built explosive charges, and then moved tactically through the exercise to rig and detonate the entryway.

“[The Polish paratroopers] are pretty enthused about the training and the opportunity to use some of the explosives,” Sword said.

In the past month, combined training events in Poland have included airborne operations and weapons ranges. The training is scheduled to continue through the coming months.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy, is the U.S. Army’s Contingency Response Force in Europe, and is capable of projecting forces to conduct the full of range of military operations across the United States European, Central and Africa commands areas of responsibility.

• Date Taken: 05.27.2014
• Date Posted: 05.30.2014 04:33
• Story ID: 131582
• Location: DRAWSKO-POMORSKIE, PL