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    Falcons and 3 PARA Lead the Way for Interoperability

    FORT BRAGG, NC, UNITED STATES

    08.12.2014

    Story by Staff Sgt. Jason Hull  

    82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs Office

    FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Capitalizing on more than a decade of combined-U.S. and U.K. operations experience gained throughout the War on Terror, the 82nd Airborne Division is now taking the next step to achieve interoperability with coalition partners in the future.

    Interoperability is the division’s multinational partnership program intended to foster trust and build closer relationships with key international crisis response force partners, an effort expected to ultimately pay off with an increased military capability to meet myriad complex threats around the world.

    The 82nd Abn. Div., the Joint Forcible Entry component of the Global Response Force, is seeking to integrate the British quick response unit, the 16th Air Assault Brigade, into combined training in preparation for a multinational crisis response force.

    “It’s absolutely critical,” said Maj. Haydn Gaukroger, the commander of B Company, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, 16th Air Asslt. Bde. “I’ve been in the army for 14 years and never been on an independent operation at all; they’ve all been … coalition in some sort of way. Unilateral action is not really the way of the future and it certainly hasn’t been the way of the immediate past either.”

    For both nations, years of counterinsurgency-focused operations have caused some capabilities to atrophy. Limited resources and tightened budgets loom. An ever-changing geopolitical environment means the challenges to America’s Guard of Honor and its allies are becoming more complex every day. The Interoperability Program seeks to counter those challenges by strengthening the readiness of U.S. and coalition partners through side-by-side training to meld tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) and provide opportunities to employ the best of both military’s assets.

    For the last month, the division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team has integrated a company from the British army’s 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, into their day-to-day operations. The brigade’s field training exercise from August 5-12 served as the culminating event for the combined team of 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment plus the 3 PARA’s B Coy., setting the stage for interoperable company teams ready to respond to global contingencies as part of a combined battalion task force. The FTX was one of the first milestones in the effort to make the 82nd Abn. Div. and the 16th Air Asslt. Bde. the national response forces of choice.

    “The GRF is sort of one level up, one size bigger, than what we provide with our own version of the GRF (the U.K.’s Air Assault Task Force),” said Gaukroger. “If we could nest the two within each other, our capabilities would be far more than they are individually. We’ve got lots of complimenting sort of activity and the Soldiers could work together really well.”

    At this time, a combined 82nd and 16th planning effort is underway to include an entire battalion from the British Air Assault Brigade in the spring of 2015 Joint Operational Access Exercise. The JOAX is the joint training exercise held regularly on Fort Bragg that validates the crisis response and forcible entry capabilities of the U.S. Army and Air Force. That combined, joint training exercise will help set the conditions to integrate a 16th Air Asslt. Bde. task force into the GRF.

    “The relationships that are built on operational tours take some time and what we’re trying to do is speed up the rate in which we learn to work together to maximum effect,” said Lt. Tom Whittle, the executive officer of B Coy., 3 PARA. “Training exercises like this and that are going to happen next year are exactly the kind of things we need to do in order to be prepared completely as a GRF, or quick reaction force, to an increasingly dynamic world.”

    By participating in training events like the 2nd BCT’s FTX, the units are able to identify and fix interoperability challenges before deploying and operating together on a GRF deployment. Integrating 3 PARA’s B Company into the 1-325th AIR provided both forces an opportunity to identify friction points.

    “The nature of these operations, it’s important to iron out all the differences so the coalition is running as smooth as possible when we hit the ground, said Whittle. “That enables us to work to the airborne timeline, which is faster paced than normal, and it specifically enabled our company to work in an integrated role along with the other companies of the (1-325th AIR) Red Falcons.”

    Interoperability requires more than simply understanding each other’s maneuver TTPs; it requires training on each other’s equipment, synchronizing communication and information sharing systems, as well as developing logistics solutions. The Red Falcons and 3 PARA have spent weeks identifying and adapting to those challenges.

    “Across the whole of our company group assets, (integrating rifle platoons, snipers, a lot of support elements), we’ve done specific, on-camp training as well as training in the field on the ground,” said Whittle. “We’ve covered low-level tactics up to company level and battalion information sharing, comms (communications) and everything that enabled us to deploy on the ground.”

    Having British forces on Fort Bragg has created a novel experience for the Paratroopers of both countries. The two units have done more than prepare for, and execute, a field exercise. They’ve also conducted physical training and team building events to help forge bonds and esprit de corps. For many, the overall experience has been overwhelmingly positive.

    “It’s really been a unique and phenomenal experience so far,” said Lt. Col. Kenneth Burgess, commander of the 1-325th AIR. “The day-to-day, bringing them in as part of our team, and operating on the ground, that has been seamless. It’s been a pleasure to work with them, a very disciplined, very professional organization.”

    The B Company, 3 PARA commander believes the shared history of both units plays an important role in interoperability success now and in the future.

    “I think the main thing to take back is that they have their brothers here in the 82nd. We’ve had pretty much the same sort of history all the way in World War II,” said Gaukroger. “These are what you should see as your brothers when you see them around the world. We are very similar and the Soldiers themselves are also taken aback by how similar it is being with the Red Falcons here as it is being within 3 PARA.”

    Going forward, both the 82nd Abn. Div. and 16th Air Asslt. Bde. plan to maintain readiness through continued small-unit exchanges hosted by both countries’ militaries, and progress to larger-scale, combined exercises intended to refine interoperability TTPs. According to the Red Falcon commander, there is good reason to be optimistic of the likelihood of success for the integration of British and American Paratroopers.

    “Our doctrine, our techniques are very similar,” said Burgess. “I think a lot of that is due to shared experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 12 plus years.”

    The B Company executive officer expressed a similar sentiment.

    “I think it’s just building on the relationship that we already have,” said Whittle. “This is just one aspect of that relationship that’s been successful in the past and no doubt will continue to be a success in the future.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 08.12.2014
    Date Posted: 08.12.2014 15:09
    Story ID: 139122
    Location: FORT BRAGG, NC, US

    Web Views: 110
    Downloads: 0

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