Latvia enhances interoperability at Saber Junction 15

HOHENFELS, GERMANY

04.14.2015

Courtesy Story

North Dakota National Guard Public Affairs

By Spc. Jessica Raasch, 116th Public Affairs Detachment

HOHENFELS, Germany -- Approximately 40 members of the Latvian Army are participating in Saber Junction 15 to build relationships and increase interoperability with fellow NATO countries and their Allies.

Saber Junction 15 takes place here at the U.S. Army's Joint Multinational Readiness Center April 1-30.

U.S. armed forces have played an active role in training and cooperating with the Latvian forces in Latvia since April 2014 as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve. To further enhance their training, the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Latvian army has traveled to Hohenfels to work in a more diversified training climate.

"If you train in one environment all of the time, you get used to it and know the terrain," said 2nd Lt. Rituars Kazaks, a platoon leader with 1st Infantry Battalion. "When you change the environment and participants, you train different tactics and from this you can get a bigger experience."

Latvia's terrain is not as varied and elevated as the terrain at Hohenfels Training Area, creating an opportunity for the Latvian army to apply the skills they have learned in a new environment.

"We have no mountains and our training area is much smaller without many trees," said Sgt. Jlvars Augustans. "We will take home the experience of being with our colleagues and working on the same task."

Kazaks stated that training with Latvia's allies allows his team to understand other nations' tactics and how to make other nations' approaches match with their own. Working in a close environment has allowed them to identify friction points and work on creating a smoother operational process.

"We are able to see our mistakes during our training and learn what we need to do better with Americans," said Cpl. Rudolfs Ozols.

Training included classroom instruction that focused on topics such as troop leading procedures, medical procedures and intelligence preparation for the battlefield. "We have different planning techniques, communication and doctrines," 2nd Lt. Igors Siciks said. "We have to come together to do one task and we must clarify how we can complete the task together."

After completing classroom training, teams conducted various types of field exercises focused on areas such as reconnaissance missions and attack defense. "Doing this training allows us to learn something new and allows other countries to see how we do things, too," said Kazaks.

When discussing the importance of training with NATO forces, one soldier expressed a shift in his thinking throughout the years. Augustans stated that twenty years ago he would not have pictured his unit working alongside Western countries to accomplish common tasks. After serving his country in Iraq, he said he realized a change was happening.

"I then started to understand we will fight with soldiers from other countries," Augustans said. "By now it is a normal thing for us."

Saber Junction 15, which includes more than 4,700 participants from 17 countries, prepares NATO and partner-nation armies for offensive, defensive and stability operations.

A major goal of Saber Junction 15 is to promote interoperability between nations. By bringing different countries together to train side-by-side, nations are able to both share information and learn from one another.

"We have to cooperate with different nations," stated Augustans. "We have to help each other to better support each other."

• Date Taken: 04.14.2015
• Date Posted: 04.26.2015 02:22
• Story ID: 161290
• Location: HOHENFELS, DE