Photo By Staff Sgt. Alexander Skripnichuk | American and Romanian troops work together in a joint-tactical operations center...... read more read more
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HOHENFELS, Germany – As the sun rises in the Bavarian countryside, a thick fog hugs the forest-covered hills, surrounding the Soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division and their NATO counterparts as they work and live together.
The troops are participating in Combined Resolve III, in Hohenfels, Germany, where they train in joint-multinational exercises with their NATO allies.
The troops live, train and fight together and the challenges are numerous.
“Language is an obvious obstacle for us,” said Staff. Sgt. Luke Williamson, a fire support noncommissioned officer with the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, 1st CAV. “To try and overcome it, we decided to put our joint-tactical operations center into one room.”
As the Soldiers from 1st BCT, 1st CAV and their counterparts from Armenia, Denmark and Romania conduct missions together, they faced problems with having different operating procedures.
“Every country has its own procedures, which we realized when we started doing missions together,” said 1st Lt. Vladimir Bejenariu, a public affairs officer for the Romanian army. “Finding operating procedures that would be accepted by all members was invaluable to our abilities to integrate.”
Once language and operating barriers were overcome, Soldiers from 1st BCT, 1st CAV enjoyed the experience of working with their NATO counterparts and the opportunity to interact with other cultures at the same time.
“Seeing other cultures provided me with a unique opportunity to learn about our NATO allies first hand,” said Pfc. RJ Alan Boyer, a forward observer with 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, 1st CAV. “Learning how to integrate with them made for some excellent training, which I hope to repeat in the future.”
According to Bejenariu, the opportunity to live together and work as a single unit is crucial for NATO allies should a real-world problem arise. He said that in a real-world scenario it would limit our abilities to successfully complete our unified goals if our militaries are kept separate.
Soldiers from all countries came together to overcome the obstacles.
“Our Romanian counterparts were very forward about their capabilities and limitations,” said 1st Lt. Zach Metzger, a forward observer officer from 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, 1st CAV. “Being upfront and honest about each of our abilities allowed us to overcome obstacles together.”
For all Soldiers, Combined Resolve III provides training that allows them to work with their NATO allies, capable of accomplishing any task.
“Working with Americans, Romanians and Danish soldiers gave me the impressions that we are brothers to each other, not foreigners,” said Kamo Martirosyan, a contractor for the Armenian army. “With all of our differences, we can find a way to work together as a single, strong force.”
| Date Taken: | 11.03.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.06.2014 14:36 |
| Story ID: | 147213 |
| Location: | HOHENFELS, DE |
| Web Views: | 74 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Working together, living together, training together, by SSG Alexander Skripnichuk, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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