Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Richard Frost | Soldiers from Charlie Company, 3-172 Infantry (Mountain), fire a mortar...... read more read more
HELENA, Mont. - Perched on a jagged, rocky mountaintop in Helena, Mont., U.S. and Canadian soldiers stood side by side as they scanned the vast panoramic views ahead of them. They had labored up the cliff side, working and sweating together to conquer the dangerous ascent up a granite wall. This was part of a historic joint training event between the New Hampshire National
Guard’s Mountain Company and their Canadian counterparts.
The exercise was not only ground-breaking for the current soldiers, but mimicked the training held here 70 years ago that
formed U.S. and Canadian soldiers into the famous “Devil’s
Brigade,” a renowned early special forces unit.
Members of Charlie Company, 3-172nd Infantry Regiment
(Mountain), New Hampshire Army National Guard, and the
Princess Louise Fusiliers Regiment of Canada, with support
from other Canadian regiments, conducted a historic, two-week
joint training exercise at Fort Harrison in Helena from April 20
to May 5. The training involved using advanced mountaineering
skills and combat tactics in a mountain environment.
“The point of the exercise was to train with our Canadian
counterparts and to compare tactics, techniques and procedures
and make both countries a more diversified fighting force in
mountain environments,” said 1st Sgt. Kenneth Kinsella of
Charlie Company.
Fort Harrison provided the ideal training environment for
the mountain soldiers.
“What better place to train for the current war we’re fighting
than here?” said Lt. Col. David Mikolaities, battalion commander,
54th Troop Command. “This facility is perfectly suited to train for
the fight we’re in right now. There are few training areas in the
continental U.S. where one can conduct high angle marksmanship
training, live-fire mortar training and various mountaineering
exercises all within an hour radius.”
The terrain provided training for the mountain soldiers
who relished the opportunity to not only hone their military
mountaineering and combat skills in the rugged terrain, but to
compare and contrast their tactics with their Canadian
counterparts.
“We conducted fixed-line training, which is good when you
need to move a lot of troops on steeper terrain,” said Canadian
Army Lt. Steve Swinamer, Princess Louise Fusiliers Regiment,
advanced mountain operations adviser. “We did body-rappelling
and also did some tactical movement training. The Americans
do things a little bit differently than we do, so conducting this
training jointly was key.”
In addition to the joint mountaineering training, they spent
significant time on Fort Harrison’s ranges and conducted joint
mortar and high angle marksmanship training, which, given
Montana’s mountainous terrain and high elevation, is well suited
to preparing units for combat in areas such as Afghanistan. The
exercise concluded with a four-day field exercise in the unforgiving
terrain in temperatures that dropped to freezing some nights.
The training holds special significance because the last time
a joint training exercise of this type was conducted here between
U.S. and Canadian forces, it gave rise to today’s modern Special
Forces components of both countries, according to retired Army
Col. Raymond Read, museum director at Fort Harrison.
“It makes sense that we would join our Canadian counterparts
to train here at Fort Harrison,” said Mikolaities. “There’s
a lot of history here that goes way back to some of the origins of Special Forces, where the U.S. and Canada first trained together
in mountain warfare.”
In 1942, during World War II, at the direction of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gen. George Marshall, and Prime
Minister Winston Churchill, an elite unit was formed. Their
mission was to parachute into occupied enemy territory and
destroy vital Axis installations. This force required a quality
training area for special training in mountaineering, skiing,
parachuting, demolitions and weapons. Fort William Henry
Harrison in Helena, Mont., was selected. Volunteers from the
U.S. and Canadian armies came to this fort to train in these
tactics. They were designated the First Special Service Force,
and their legacy as “The Devil’s Brigade” has carried over into
today’s special forces of both countries.
In addition to the historical significance, most members
agreed that the training here was critical for the joint success of
our missions, and that this training should continue in the future.
“Working with the Americans was great,” said Swinamer.
“We actually amalgamated all the platoons, so half was American
and half Canadian. They have a slightly different skill set that
they bring to the table, so trading information was key to seeing
what every individual had to offer.”
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 09.09.2012 17:12 |
| Story ID: | 94417 |
| Location: | HELENA, MT, US |
| Web Views: | 127 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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