Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Daleanne Maxwell | A Soldier from the Royal Malyasian Army shows members of the 204th Manuever...... read more read more
KUANTAN, Malaysia – Members of the Utah Army National Guard’s 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade joined forces with the Malaysian Armed Forces, July 7-24, during Exercise Keris Strike 2010.
Keris Strike is an annual event hosted in Malaysia that is designed to strengthen U.S./Malaysian relations and further build on the operational peace support capacity of participants.
The two weeks of training included an academics portion, miniexercise and command post exercise.
After two long days of academics, the 204th and their Malaysian counterparts were ready to practice their new peacekeeping skills during a staff miniexercise and the CPX.
During the miniexercise, the 204th staff joined with the Malaysian Armed Forces, 4th Infantry Mechanized, to create a multinational brigade headquarters.
"Utah is providing half of the multinational force brigade staff and Soldiers,” said Lt. Col. Mel Anderson, operations officer of the 204th MEB. “We joined with the Malaysian Armed Forces 4th Infantry Mechanized to stand up a multinational brigade in peacekeeping operations.”
During the miniexercise and the CPX, participants were faced with possible real-world challenges of supporting a peacekeeping operation.
Members received incident reports and would have to find appropriate responses while working through their normal channels, and the added channels of the United Nations and nongovernmental officials.
The main goal of the CPX was for the multinational brigade to establish a demilitarized zone between two fighting nations by a deadline set up in a U.N. peace agreement, signed by both nations.
“We were able to have both of the nations out of the DMZ by the date the peace agreement stated,” said Sgt. Ian Napper, the intelligence non-commissioned officer in charge for the 204th.
“Although it has been a challenge, I feel that we have overcome that challenge,” said Col. Don Summit. commander for the 204th, as well as the brigade deputy commanding officer for the exercise. “We have worked through the challenges and have come together as a team seamlessly.”
While building their team, U.S. soldiers were able to build upon their relationships with the Malaysians.
“I found that interaction with my counterpart was as valuable as the exercise itself,” said Capt. Todd Christensen, logistics officer for the 204th and an Orem resident. “When it came to comparing strategies and procedures, I was able to work with an experienced officer who provided valuable mentoring to me.”
One of the memorable events for U.S. Soldiers was when the Malaysians taught their counterparts one of their traditional games, sepaktakraw, a form of kick volleyball in which players kick the ball over a net and refrain from using their hands.
“Sepaktakraw was a really fun sport that some of us want to take back to the States,” said Spc. Daniel J. Strange, a military police officer for the 204th and the Request for Information noncommissioned officer for the exercise. “It was fun being able to play a game with the Malaysian brigade chief of staff and win a game.”
Overall, the Malaysian hosts were extremely friendly and helpful.
“I have had a lot of fun,” said Sgt. Daniel B. Lemley, assistant operations non-commissioned officer for the 204th. “It has been great meeting different people from different cultures. I have enjoyed learning the way they do things and getting to know them.”
“[The Malaysians] have been wonderful hosts and have provided much more than I expected, and I am extremely grateful,” said Lt. Col. Karl Wright, deputy commanding officer of the 204th.
| Date Taken: | 07.22.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2010 17:16 |
| Story ID: | 54237 |
| Location: | KUANTAN, MY |
| Web Views: | 151 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, 204th, Malaysians experience peacekeeping, by SFC Daleanne Maxwell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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