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    Know Your Defender 24: Sgt. Joshua Romano [Image 1 of 3]

    Know Your Defender 24: Sgt. Joshua Romano

    SMILOV, CZECH REPUBLIC

    05.14.2024

    Photo by Staff Sgt. Angela Ohearn 

    221st Public Affairs Detachment

    U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua Romano, with the 29th Infantry Division, Virginia National Guard, participates in the Culminating Training Event for Exercise Immediate Response 24 on May 14, 2024, at the Libava military training area, Czech Republic.

    Romano said his favorite part of Immediate Response 24 has been working with his team as well as the Czech army.

    "It's absolutely fantastic to get to work with our NATO allies," he said. “It's very satisfying to see the things that they're able to do or we're able to do and work together to ultimately accomplish a unified goal. Something that I've learned personally is that we're all soldiers. At the end of the day, we might speak different languages, but we're all soldiers the way that we act. You can transcend these differences, these boundaries, knowing that our jobs are the same and that were ultimately trying to accomplish the same goal.”

    Romano also send Immediate Response 24 has given the opportunity to conduct realistic training.

    “It's just extremely important to train how you fight,” he said. “That's what it comes down to. It really makes this training that much more valuable.”

    DEFENDER is the Dynamic Employment of Forces to Europe for NATO Deterrence and Enhanced Readiness, and is a U.S. European Command scheduled, U.S. Army Europe and Africa conducted exercise that consists of Saber Strike, Immediate Response, and Swift Response. DEFENDER 24 is linked to NATO’s Steadfast Defender exercise, and DoD’s Large Scale Global Exercise, taking place from 28 March to 31 May. DEFENDER 24 is the largest U.S. Army exercise in Europe and includes more than 17,000 U.S. and 23,000 multinational service members from more than 20 Allied and partner nations, including Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. (U.S. Army Reserve Photo by Staff Sgt. Angela O'Hearn)

    IMAGE INFO

    Date Taken: 05.14.2024
    Date Posted: 05.16.2024 08:50
    Photo ID: 8407087
    VIRIN: 240514-A-GP509-1111
    Resolution: 6240x4160
    Size: 15.53 MB
    Location: SMILOV, CZ

    Web Views: 154
    Downloads: 2

    PUBLIC DOMAIN