1-14th Field Artillery deploys to Europe

Photo By Capt. Erick Schneider-Cuevas | Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery Regiment board busses in front of the battalion headquarters to manifest at Lawton Fort Sill Regional Airport on May 2, 2024. The unit deployed in support of Exercise Immediate Response, a joint multinational training exercise that is part of NATO’s broader DEFENDER EUROPE exercise.  

FORT SILL, OK, UNITED STATES

05.06.2024

Story by Capt. Erick Schneider-Cuevas 

75th Field Artillery Brigade

FORT SILL, Oklahoma – The 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery Regiment deployed to Europe Thursday, May 2, from Lawton Fort Sill Regional Airport to participate in Exercise Immediate Response, a multinational training exercise.

Exercise Immediate Response is part of NATO’s broader DEFENDER 24 exercise, which brings together more than 17,000 U.S. and 23,000 multinational service members from over 20 NATO allied and partner nations to conduct a series of joint training operations.

“My unit is extremely lucky and excited to participate in Immediate Response 2024,” said Capt. Dylan Karnedy, commander of B Battery, 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery. “It boosts our lethality to be able to integrate with a national guard division headquarters as well as create interoperability with our international partners.”

Volunteers from the Fort Sill United Service Organizations (USO) provided support by distributing individual care packages containing snacks and water to each soldier as they manifested in the personnel holding area. Mark Ludington, a USO volunteer, shook each soldier’s hand as they received their care package. “Thank you for keeping our nation safe,” he said with a firm handshake and a smile.

DEFENDER 24 is linked to NATO’s overarching Steadfast Defender 24 exercise, its largest multinational training exercise since the Cold War.

• Date Taken: 05.06.2024
• Date Posted: 05.08.2024 20:36
• Story ID: 470732
• Location: FORT SILL, OK, US