Photo By Capt. Kayla Christopher | Col. David Jordan, commander of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oklahoma Army...... read more read more
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Building relationships is key to the success of any mission, but cooperation and understanding is especially essential when working in a multinational environment.
Col. David Jordan, commander of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oklahoma Army National Guard, recently assumed command of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine. Jordan, along with several members of his staff, spent time this week meeting with military and community leaders to discuss plans for future partnership.
The mission of the JMTG-U, which falls under U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army Training Command, is to provide assistance in strengthening Ukraine’s internal defense.
Jordan met with Ukrainian Lt. Gen. Pavlo Tkachuk, the chief of the Ukrainian National Military Academy, to exchange ideas about the future of the International Peacekeeping and Security Center, near Yavoriv, Ukraine, the area where JMTG-U training takes place.
“We’ve been fortunate to visit Hohenfels Training Area in Germany,” said Tkachuck. “It’s our desire that the IPSC meets this standard in the future and that NATO nations seek to train here.”
The mayor of L’viv, Ukraine and Oleg Synyutka, the governor of L’viv Oblast, also met with Jordan. Synyutka mentioned that since 2014, over 260 Ukrainian soldiers from L’viv Oblast, the region where the IPSC is located, have died conducting anti-terrorism operations in the east of Ukraine. The training soldiers receive at the IPSC is saving lives, he said.
“We are not only fighting for territory,” said Synyutka, “but for our values, the same values that we share with the west.”
Jordan, along with Tkachuck and members of the Ukrainian National Military Academy staff, toured Sts. Peter and Paul’s Garrison Church where they met with the Ukrainian chaplain assigned to the academy’s student soldiers.
There, the chaplain showed Jordan a memorial dedicated to those who have died in the fighting. Inna Shkodyak, an English teacher on staff at the academy, pointed to one of the soldier’s pictures.
“That’s one of my students,” said Shkodyak. “He graduated a few years ago.”
Visiting with local leaders drove home the importance of the mission at JMTG-U, Jordan said. The U.S. Soldiers under Jordan’s command will supervise the training of four Ukrainian battalions during their time in Ukraine. Jordan discussed with Tkachuck how training should be tailored to the ability of each Ukrainian battalion.
“From what I’ve seen and heard, they’re highly motivated,” Jordan said of the Ukrainian soldiers, “I expect that, given their experiences, our Soldiers will learn just as much from them as they’ll learn from us.”
| Date Taken: | 01.21.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 01.21.2017 09:44 |
| Story ID: | 220901 |
| Location: | L'VIV, UA |
| Web Views: | 661 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Leaders Forge New Partnerships in Ukraine, by CPT Kayla Christopher, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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