Photo By Sgt. Brandon Anderson | A platoon of Soldiers of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored...... read more read more
DRAWSKO POMORSKIE, Poland---U.S. and Danish tank companies participated in a combined arms live fire exercise June 16, 2015 during Saber Strike 15.
U.S. Soldiers of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division and Danish soldiers of the Dragoon Regiment, 1st Armored Battalion, 1st Danish Tank Squadron maneuvered their tanks through a live-fire range engaging targets while taking up offensive and defensive battle positions.
Sgt. 1st Class Clayton Hardin, the senior enlisted advisor for Company D, said the training which incorporated U.S. M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks and Danish Leopard 2A5 Main Battle Tanks, had the U.S. tank crews advancing first while the Danish tank crews were coming forward in a tactical maneuver known as bounding.
“The Danish tank squadron and our tank company are doing bounding maneuvers to set up defensive postures and creating a forward advancing line,” said Hardin. “Normally this is something we do by platoons in our company, but we've never done this sort of thing before with the Danish.”
He said with this particular exercise his unit was using a technique they seldom use during their normal training.
“We're incorporating ex-fill, the technique where the tank drivers use the rear backup cameras in their tanks, to move backwards along the trail while still firing forward,” said Hardin. “Our drivers are capable of doing this, but for some of them, it's the first time they've done it.”
Hardin said that working with the Danish tankers has been a good experience for his Soldiers. Danish crews normally stay together for the duration of their time in the military, where as the U.S. tank crews have to adjust to the normal coming and going of Soldiers as they move to new units and duty stations.
“The Danish tankers have specific positions that they're assigned to, so they can focus on perfecting that skill, while with us, as the Soldier gets promoted he progresses through the different positions in the tank crew,” said Hardin. “It's just part of the normal career progression of a tank crewman in the U.S. Army.”
As they are learning from each other as professionals, they are also learning from each other as allies, said Hardin.
“I know from doing some of the defensive and offensive mission that we've done here together, I know if I say a particular type of maneuver needs to happen, they're going to go ahead and get it done,” said Hardin.
As the allies continue to work together, both sides are becoming more confident in their abilities to handle any scenario where their combined efforts are required.
Danish Lt. Col. Peter Nielsen, the commanding officer of the Dragoon Regiment, said having this experience for he and his soldiers has been a good thing.
“It's great to be a part of a combined exercise like this,” said Nielsen. “We need more exercises like this where we can train and work together in order to enhance our interoperability.”
The allies will have the opportunity to show how much they've learned during a demonstration Friday that incorporates all the various allied units during the close of Saber Strike 15 exercises in Poland.
Saber Strike 15 is a long-standing U.S. Army Europe-led cooperative training exercise. This year’s exercise objectives facilitate cooperation amongst the U.S., Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland to improve joint operational capability in a range of missions as well as preparing the participating nations and units to support multinational contingency operations. There are more than 6,000 participants from 13 different nations.
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.18.2015 06:09 |
| Story ID: | 167074 |
| Location: | DRAWSKO POMORSKIE, PL |
| Hometown: | FORT STEWART, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 315 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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