Sky Soldiers welcome US chief of staff of the Army to Fearless Guardian

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Adriana Diaz-Brown | Gen. Mark A. Milley, Chief of Staff of the Army, Geoffrey R. Pyatt, United States Ambassador to Ukraine, along with Ukrainian military leaders and soldiers with U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade encounter first-hand observation of Fearless Guardian training Oct. 29 near Yavoriv, Ukraine. Paratroopers from the 173rd Abn. Bde. are in Ukraine to train Ukraine’s newly-formed national guard as part of Fearless Guardian, which is schedule to last through November. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Adriana Diaz-Brown, 10th Press Camp Headquarters)  

UKRAINE

10.29.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Adriana Diaz-Brown 

173rd Airborne Brigade

YAVORIV, Ukraine - Gen. Mark A. Milley, chief of staff of the Army, visited here, Oct. 29, to observe the program of instruction of Fearless Guardian.

Fearless Guardian is the name given to the U.S. training and equipping of the National Guard of Ukraine under the Congress-approved Global Security Contingency Fund-Ukraine. Fearless Guardian involves approximately 300 paratroopers, from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade.

The training is focused at partnering at the battalion-level and below and building a professional and capable Ukrainian National Guard to defend Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“For the U.S. Army, this is really important for us because one of the things we are going to do, and we have been doing for many years now and will continue to do is train, advise, and assist other nation’s armies so that they can protect themselves and maintain the stability of their own countries,” said Milley. “It has direct impact on U.S. national security.”

During his visit, Milley awarded and presented coins to soldiers with the Ukrainian national guard and paratroopers with the 173rd Abn. Bde.

Milley observed a Ukrainian national guard platoon, under the supervision of soldiers from the Lithuanian Armed Forces and paratroopers from the 173rd Abn. Bde., conduct live-fire training to demonstrate their skills on how to conduct movement under fire.

“The Ukrainian army has a lot of combat experience now,” Milley said. “However, what they want and what we want to help them achieve is a higher level of training and skill in combined arms, and that’s a part of what you’re seeing here on this live-fire.”

Paratroopers from the 173rd Abn. Bde. are in Ukraine on their third rotation of Fearless Guardian, which is schedule to last through November.

• Date Taken: 10.29.2015
• Date Posted: 10.30.2015 05:18
• Story ID: 180404
• Location: UA