DVIDS Hub works best with JavaScript enabled

Working together, creating solutions

Courtesy Photo | Romanian Special Operations Forces Soldiers dismount their vehicles to assault the...... read more read more

CONSTANTA, ROMANIA

06.16.2015

Courtesy Story

U.S. Special Operations Command Europe

By Staff Sgt. Daniel Carter
10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Public Affairs NCO

CONSTANTA, Romania – European and American Special Operations Forces participated in the first ever Romanian-sponsored SOF exercise, Operation Junction Strike, as part of a larger effort to increase interoperability and create a cohesive bond between neighboring countries.

Operation Junction Strike, was a multinational joint training event with Allied Joint SOF from Romania, Turkey, Moldova, Georgia, Poland, Greece and the U.S. With assistance from a detachment from the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Romanian SOF deployed a Special Operations Component Command element for the first time ever in Romanian Special Operations history.

“The plan was originally created to be a Romanian internal exercise, and when a [Special Forces Advisory team] came here they recognized an opportunity to expand that to include international partners and interagency partners,” explained a U.S. Special Forces Company Commander.

A year after the command post exercise and with six months of planning and preparation, training began on June 16, 2015.

“This training is an excellent opportunity to work together,” stated Col. Mircea Suta, commander of the 6th Romanian Special Operations Brigade.

With six nations involved in the training exercise, the planning process was extensive and required serious effort from the command structure.

The SOF Soldiers participated in missions incorporating all aspects of the SOF community. Support from U.S. Army aviation, U.S. Air Force, and Turkish aviation helped to augment the Romanians internal capabilities to conduct air infiltration, fast-rope, and close air support missions.

Support from a U.S. Naval Advisory team helped to incorporate maritime operations within the exercise.

“A lot of support came from the U.S. Special Forces who are here with us. They jumped into the planning process, help us with assets, and advise us on how to better accomplish our mission,” said Suta.

Over the past seven years, Romanian SOF has deployed with U.S. Special Forces under a Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Within Operation Junction Strike, for the first time ever, Romania deployed their own headquarters element to manage and integrate multinational allied SOF under a Romanian led Special Operations Component Command.

“Right now it is considered the gold standard of NATO SOF, being able to run a SOCC, and this exercise has definitely advanced their capability in a relatively rapid amount of time,” stated the U.S. Special Forces Company Commander.

Being a NATO member country, this exercise marks a milestone in Romania’s development within the global SOF community.

With participants from Georgia and Moldova, this exercise serves as a conduit for future cooperation between Romania and non-NATO partner nations.

“I would like to emphasize the participation that we have received from other states, such as the Georgians and Moldovans because we are looking towards the future and possible training exercises in Georgia, Moldova, or with them here in Romania,” Suta said.

Through the ROUSOFEX, the exercise provides NATO SOF with the ability to reach out to critical non-NATO partners in order to work towards common goals of cooperative security, crisis response, and collective defense. This type of joint allied SOF exercise is the first step toward achieving those goals.

“From working with everybody involved and de-conflicting all the issues that occur at the lower levels, not necessarily just the command levels, we have learned that when we work together if there is a problem we can solve it together,” said the ROUSOFEX lead Romanian exercise planner.