Planning the exercise, exercising the plan at the Saber Strike 2012 CPX Week 1

Photo By Robert N Sperling | In final preparation for the beginning of Saber Strike 2012, Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers and airmen finalize their workstations in preparation for the upcoming simulation exercise with the Estonian army. Joining the Higher Command simulation exercise are officers from Great Britain and Canada and active duty soldiers from the U.S. Army Multinational Training Command in Grafenwoehr, Germany. Saber Strike 2012 is a multinational, tactical field training and command post exercise that involves more than 2,000 personnel from the U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, the 4th U.S. Marine Division, the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuania armed forces, with contingents from Canada, Finland, France and the U.K. The exercise, led by U.S. Army Europe, is designed to enhance joint and combined interoperability between the U.S. Army and partner nations, and will help prepare participants to operate successfully in a joint, multinational, interagency, integrated environment. (Photo by Capt. Rob Sperling, Pennsylvania Air National Guard Public Affairs)  

TAPA, 37, ESTONIA

06.18.2012

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Europe and Africa     

TAPA, Estonia – Representatives from Estonia, the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain have gathered at the Tapa training facility to build, design, and execute an exercise pushing the limits and raising the capabilities of the participating nations’ leadership through war game simulation as part of Saber Strike 2012.

Working cooperatively with allied partners, the Estonian forces are exercising a combat action scenario in a fictitious country that is undergoing civil unrest and facing an invasion by neighboring foreign forces sympathetic to the civil unrest. This exercise provides an opportunity for U.S. and allied forces to work hand-in-hand with each other to enhance everyone’s overall ability to work together in a combat environment.

“I have been working with the Estonians since November,” said Lt. Col. Adam Schlang, exercise planner, Joint Multinational Training and Simulation Center. “Throughout the entire process the Estonians have been very proactive, forward leaning, and willing to demonstrate their capabilities from planning and development through execution of this exercise.”

This exercise focuses on the command and control, planning and coordination aspects of military operations, specifically the coordination and reporting activities of forces in the field through the various higher headquarters elements.

The international partnerships and relationships developed throughout Saber Strike 2012 will continue to grow and develop as the plans and established coordination channels are tested during week two of the command post portion of this exercise.

Week two of Saber Strike 2012 will feature the execution of the plans that have been in coordination since the initial planning conference in November to test the Estonian brigade’s ability to coordinate and execute the developed plans cooperatively in a multinational environment.

Saber Strike 2012 is a multinational, tactical field training and command post exercise that involves more than 2,000 personnel from the U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, the 4th U.S. Marine Division, the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian armed forces, with contingents from Canada, Finland, France and the U.K.

The exercise, led by U.S. Army Europe, is designed to enhance joint and combined interoperability between the U.S. and partner nations, and will help prepare participants to operate successfully in a joint, multinational, interagency, integrated environment.

• Date Taken: 06.18.2012
• Date Posted: 06.18.2012 05:05
• Story ID: 90166
• Location: TAPA, 37, EE