Photo By Sgt. Brandon Anderson | Spc. Kenneth Bradley, a multichannel transmission systems operator-maintainer assigned...... read more read more
WALCZ, Poland--- Military communication teams from 22 nations gathered for a joint training exercise May 22, 2015 in Walcz, Poland, to test and enhance the flow of operational information between NATO partners and provide a blueprint for future joint operations.
During the opening ceremony for the training event, named Steadfast Cobalt 15, the commander of the exercise, German Army Col. Thomas Wirsching, welcomed the participants, each wearing a variety of camouflaged uniforms.
Wirsching expressed his gratitude for Poland's hospitality in hosting the exercise.
“The foundation for a successful exercise is based on the availability of sufficient host nation support,” said Wirsching. “I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the outstanding support provided by our host nation Poland.”
To the soldiers of the exercise, Wirsching emphasized the importance of their role in the success of Steadfast Cobalt 15.
“You are the key players, and it will be you who will make the difference to conduct this exercise,” said Wirsching. “During the set up phase, you have all demonstrated a great personal dedication and provided excellent expertise and skills.”
Wirsching said these participants will pave the way for exercises to follow.
“Steadfast Cobalt 15 has two purposes, one is to validate and certify the communication and information system network to be used for next year's NATO Response Force,” Wirsching said. “The second part is for the NATO nations to improve their interoperability with NATO as part of the federated mission network.”
He said the exercise originally started in 2013, and only had 300 participants at the time. The following year saw 500 participants, and this year, over 900 soldiers and civilians are taking part in what is becoming the proving ground for future NATO mission command endeavors.
“We want to make sure all the networks are in synch with each other,” said Wirsching. “Our objective is to come away from here knowing that users from groups A to Z can seamlessly use the network.”
Wirsching went on to say that although the U.S. Military was the prominent figure for a long time and still plays a vital role, the other allied nations are coming on board during exercises like this, to ensure commanders at all levels and nationalities are able to use the networks being established here.
“We're not just doing it for ourselves,” said Wirsching. “Our intent is to deliver a solid operations capability to the commanders on the ground wherever the forces of NATO are engaged.”
Providing support for U.S. Army Europe, members of Company A, 44th Signal Battalion, 2nd Signal Brigade, located in Grafenwoehr, Germany, are responsible for establishing satellite connections and maintaining network capability for the U.S. during the exercise.
U.S. Army Sgt. Demetrius Hester, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the team from Company A, said he and his team are learning a lot from the exercise, and although they've experienced some challenges, they've been able to meet their objectives so far.
“The biggest thing that we're learning about is how the NATO systems work, and how we integrate into the network,” said Hester, whose immediate working area is surrounded by tall trees. “The people here thought that we needed an open area to get our system to link up with the satellite, but we were able to...link up on the first attempt.”
Echoing the importance of the U.S. being able to integrate into the bigger picture of NATO communication systems, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Kevin Alvarez, Senior Information Systems Technician U.S. Army Europe, Mission Command Support Division.
“This has been a good experience for us, as we've been able to share our experience with 22 different countries,” said Alvarez. “This is the biggest exercise of its kind, and it's been a great experience.”
| Date Taken: | 05.22.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.26.2015 02:14 |
| Story ID: | 164490 |
| Location: | WALCZ, PL |
| Web Views: | 318 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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