Photo By Master Sgt. Henry Hoegen | A patriot ballistic missile fires at a simulated target during an exercise held at an...... read more read more
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UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, Southwest Asia - The sky was not the limit and yes the desert did bloom- but war was not really waged, only tested.
A U.S. Army Central-led, bilateral, combined Patriot live-fire exercise was held to improve the abilities, confidence, cohesion and interoperability between the U.S. and coalition partners in the event of a ballistic missile threat.
"The brigade provides mission-command for all missile defense forces in the region, across five countries here in the Arabian Gulf," said Col. Edward J. O'Neill, commander of the 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. "For the exercise, we have provided our Air Defense Fire Control Officers, who command and control the fires for our Patriot battery."
Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target, uses high-tech, state-of-the-art missiles with long-range and tracking capabilities to engage airborne objects identified as threats to friendly forces or assets. The system is advantageous because it is modular, highly mobile, and it can be emplaced in less than one hour.
"We conducted a rehearsal, for the combined Patriot live-fire exercise with our host nation partners, we rehearsed the entire 'joint-kill chain', which is the communication between all the command and control centers from both countries," said Lt. Col. Patrick Costello, commander of the 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. "We engaged one Tactical Ballistic Missile Target, and one Air Breathing Target."
Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, out of Fort Bragg, N.C., were given an opportunity to fire their Patriot missile systems and witness its capabilities during a live-fire exercise held Oct. 1, 2014.
Because each Patriot missile costs approximately $1-$6 million, live-fire exercises are conducted less frequently than rifle ranges.
"The approval planning and rehearsing for this exercise took about six months, the coordination took even longer," Costello said.
Crew members, however, must still train and maintain proficiency on operating these systems in order to be ready to use them at a moment's notice.
"The Battalion prepared for this exercise in a number of ways, we worked with our host nation partners as soon as we got out here. We did a lot of 'table-top' exercises, a lot of simulations, and a lot of competitions," stated Costello.
A total of nine missiles were launched by the U.S. and host nation during this joint exercise, which was the final product of the hard work of the Soldiers and the host nation, said Costello.
"I couldn't have asked for a better group of Soldiers, I have a very young Battalion, everybody is eager to make friends, eager to learn about our host nation partners, and eager to make this partnership work," said Costello.
This demonstration of strong partnership between the U.S. and its coalition partners comes at a critical time, as terrorist organizations remain a global threat. This symbol of diplomacy between the U.S. and partners in the Middle East shows how the war on terrorism is a unified effort.
| Date Taken: | 10.01.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.07.2014 09:24 |
| Story ID: | 144467 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 1,396 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
This work, Soldiers sharpen Patriot skills with host nation, by SGT Kyle Fisch, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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