Photo By Master Sgt. Caleb Barrieau | U.S. Army Capt. Bradford Dooley, the friendly forces observer coach trainer (OCT...... read more read more
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SLUNJ, CROATIA—Soldiers from nine nations arriving to take part in Exercise Immediate Response 15 were warned to be careful of a local breed of snake that is seen in the training area which could be very dangerous. They were not warned that Grizzly Bears would also be roaming the terrain because these Grizzlies were known to be very friendly.
Grizzly Bears you ask? These Grizzlies are the 17 Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers from the US Army Europe’s Joint Multinational Training Center (JMRC) that are here to support the exercise. Their role is to augment the host Slovenia and Croatia observer/coach/trainer teams better known as OCTs.
These trainers bring years of experience to each of USAREUR’s exercises as they coach the trainees on how to perform tasks and improve processes with the goal of improving their operations.
There are few soldiers in USAREUR who have more experience working with their NATO partners than the OCTs from JMRC, at Hohenfels, Germany.
Grizzly Team is just one of JMRC’s OCT teams; their focus is Southern Europe with Immediate Response being just one of their events. The Kosovo Forces (KFOR) mission is also one of their responsibilities.
In Hohenfels, Germany, the Grizzlies are in the lead, however here in Slunj, their job is to assist their Slovenian and Croatian partner OCTs with the goal of their being able to conduct future exercises on their own .
“I’ve never worked with the Croatians before, I’ve never worked with the Slovenians before, I want to do this," said Capt. Bradford Dooley, plans officer for this team of Grizzlies. He explained that all 17 members are volunteers here.
Dooley, a 12-year Army veteran and graduate of Mississippi State University spoke of the challenges that the Grizzlies face when working in a new training area. “It is more difficult when you do not know the terrain and this terrain is more difficult than back home at JMRC, we do not know where to observe from a distance, the brush is quite high here.” He added, it’s different than home station because we are not just training soldiers but also sharing our experiences with the Slovenian and Croatians on the ground so they can function on their own.”
Dooley explained proudly that helping NATO partners become self-sufficient is a key training objective of Immediate Response. He said, “If they can do all of this here and OCT themselves, then when they come to Hohenfels, for joint training, they’re even better and even faster.”
Improving communications skills is a primary focus of NATO training. The 28 different nations with many languages and cultures work constantly at better understanding each other. Dooley said that down in the trenches at the platoon level, the soldier level, leaders must be very patient. “As you get down and dirty in the platoon, language does become a barrier, I wish we pushed language training across the board, I think it’s extremely important. We have to be very careful when we translate, we learn not to add tons of details, it’s very straight forward.”
The Grizzly Bears say it’s great when their partners reach out and use U.S. techniques and procedures which encourages them to try to use the other nations as well.
Dooley added, he feels it is extremely important to show our allies that the US is willing to be part of teams where they are not in charge. “We are willing to be partners, not always the lead, we can be led by an allied partner and that is a great step in the right direction.” He added with satisfaction, “The best part is they want to get better.”
When asked if he felt exercises like Immediate Response were achieving their goals, Dooley did not hesitate. “Do I think it’s actually working, yeah I think its working.”
The Grizzly Bears will soon migrate to Slovenia to OCT Immediate Response’s final event, a multi-national battalion field training exercise. For these seventeen soldiers that will be another chance to extend their paws in partnership. It will be another small step in NATO’s journey for collective security and cooperation among soldiers and among nations.
| Date Taken: | 09.15.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.17.2015 02:35 |
| Story ID: | 176316 |
| Location: | SLUNJ, HR |
| Web Views: | 332 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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