Small-arms course promotes range safety, camaraderie among partner nation soldiers

Photo By Staff Sgt. Christina Dion | Latvian army Sgt. 1st Class Janis Kreijers fires the Mark 19 at crew serve weapons live-fire training during the small-arms master marksmanship course at Grafenwoehr Training Area July 28. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Christina M. Dion/Released)  

GRAFENWOEHR, BY, GERMANY

09.15.2014

Story by Sgt. Christina Dion 

7th Army Training Command

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany – With rapidly-changing and increasing multinational missions around the world, the importance of training in a joint environment has never been higher. To facilitate the cooperative environment, leaders of the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command work closely with NATO and partner-nations to provide courses that not only fulfill U.S. Army requirements, but also give the partner-nation Soldiers a chance to work together in the classroom.

The 7th Army JMTC Combined Arms Training Center has diverse capabilities and offers more than 60 classes. They train more than 10,000 Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians and international military students each year, said Lt. Col. Steven Bergosh, CATC chief. One class is the Small Arms Master Marksmanship Course.

The students were taught range operations and the operation and maintenance of the Mark 19 Grenade Launcher, .50-caliber machine gun and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon at Grafenwoehr Training Area July 28.

The class iteration was composed of Latvian, Romanian and U.S. Soldiers. When the class arrived at the range, one of the first pieces of instruction given was to team up in mixed nationality groups. Instructors stressed the importance of each student learning how the others communicated and operated so when they worked together in the future, they would be familiar with each other’s processes. Working together in a joint environment presents unique communication challenges, but the instructors said they adjust for the students’ particular needs.

“We must slow down our speech a little and explain with more descriptive words in multiple contexts to ensure the students understand,” said Staff Sgt. Andrew Warner, SAMMC course manager. “We have had great success from the International students attending.”

“I try not to tailor the course for our multinational partners, rather tailor them to the course,” said Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Duvall of Vacaville, California, and SAMMC instructor. “I hold all of our students to the same standard. Soldiers are amazing people regardless of what country they serve. They are very flexible, proud and you can train them to do just about anything [if they are] given enough time, regardless of language or cultural barriers.”

During the course Duvall said they learn from their students as well.

“I make sure that they share their experiences with each other. I have learned as much from our multinational partners as they have learned from me.”

Although the Romanian and Latvian soldiers won’t return to their home stations using the same weapons systems, they benefit by learning how to safely and correctly run any small-arms range, while also building camaraderie with soldiers from partner nations.

“The training is a great opportunity for us to join and learn together,” said Latvian army 2nd Lt. Uldis, Orups, a student in the small-arms master marksmanship course. “Our favorite part is to come here and fire on a real range.”

Even though the international students don’t necessarily have the same training background as the U.S. Soldiers, Warner said that doesn’t impact the overall training.

“All of our students arrive on the same playing field, all have a small base of knowledge, making it easier for us to build on,” said Warner. “The take away from this course [is to] prepare students to be the overall subject matter expert for their assigned unit on all range requirements, ammo needs, personnel requirements, weapon characteristics, implementation, and fundamentals, as well as how to coordinate the land through the training area. Over all it gives them a background in every aspect to successfully run their units small arms program to keep all soldiers current on skills and qualifications.”

At the conclusion of the class, all of the Soldiers have a better understanding of range operations as well as how to operate in a multinational environment that demands interoperability.

• Date Taken: 09.15.2014
• Date Posted: 09.15.2014 04:29
• Story ID: 142131
• Location: GRAFENWOEHR, BY, DE
• Hometown: VACAVILLE, CA, US