Building interoperability one road march at a time

Photo By Staff Sgt. Alexander Skripnichuk | Soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division survey a local nation village with their Romanian counterpart during a training exercise in Hohenfels, Germany, Nov. 3, as part of Combined Resolve III. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Alexander Skripnichuk, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)  

HOHENFELS, GERMANY

11.03.2014

Story by Sgt. Alexander Skripnichuk 

7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

HOHENFELS, Germany – With the sun rising on the Bavarian countryside, Soldiers working with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division conducted a key-leader leader engagement training with their Romanian counterparts during an exercise as a part of Combined Resolve III, Nov. 3.

After marching to a small village in the woods, civil affairs and psychological operations Soldiers met the elders and engaged with residents. The infantrymen supporting them established a security zone around the village to ensure the event proceeded peacefully.

During the meeting, Soldiers listened to the elders' concerns as a Romanian soldier held a meeting with the local police. At the conclusion of the meeting, the infantrymen, along with the Soldiers for whom they were providing security, formed up and returned to base.

“Training like this is invaluable for us,” said Staff Sgt. Ebert Basnight, a civil affairs team sergeant with the 80th Civil Affairs Battalion, Fort Bliss, Texas. “Being able to train with Soldiers from other units as well as other countries makes this training as realistic as possible.”

During the two-month, multinational training exercise, Soldiers working with 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div. participated in multiple training scenarios, from meeting with elders in a small village, to attacking and defending their battle positions.

Combined Resolve III allows the Soldiers to conduct the training in a foreign land with Soldiers from allied nations.

“Doing missions like this with our allies allows us to establish systems and troop-training procedures ensuring that we will have successful missions should a real world scenario arise,” said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Beltran, a tactical psychological operations team leader with the 339th Psychological Operations Company, 13th Psychological Operations Battalion,

As Combined Resolve III continues, Soldiers from countries such as: Armenia, Albania, Denmark and Romania learn to work with each other and the U.S. Army as a single effective unit ready to respond to any situation.

• Date Taken: 11.03.2014
• Date Posted: 11.06.2014 14:46
• Story ID: 147219
• Location: HOHENFELS, DE