Pageantry, competition, feast commence FTX

Photo By Spc. Brianne Kim | Soldiers of the Royal Thai Army 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry overlook the Thai versus U.S. forces soccer game at Camp Suratham Phithak, Korat on February 12, as part of the Field Training Exercise Opening Ceremony for Exercise Cobra Gold 2017. “We’re doing a little bit of an ice breaker game here just to sort of kick things off and set the right tone with our partners,” said Lt. Col. Teddy Kleisner, battalion commander, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. A key mission of Cobra Gold is to build and strengthen the longstanding friendship between Thai and U.S. forces, along with forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, ensuring effective response capabilities to potential regional crises with a robust multinational force. (U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Brianne Kim)  

THAILAND

02.12.2017

Story by Spc. Brianne Kim 

122nd Theater Public Affairs Support Element

The opening ceremony began with a performance by the Royal Thai Army 3rd Infantry Division drill and ceremony team followed by opening remarks from commanders of the Thai and U.S. forces.
“The opening ceremony was pretty cool, it’s not the type of pageantry we get to do at home, so it was neat for our guys to get to see that,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Teddy Kleisner, 1-23 Infantry battalion commander. “We got to get a good message from their commanding general, but now we get to get a little informal which I think is more fun and our guys appreciate.”
The fun started after the close of the official ceremony when Thai and U.S. forces joined together for a friendly, yet competitive game of soccer before having dinner together closing the day’s events.
“We’re just out here building cohesive teamwork between the Thais and U.S. Army, so we put together a battalion team and asked them if they wanted to play [soccer],” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Damion Andrews, 1-23 Infantry, Bravo Company. “We’ve been practicing for about a month and a half because I knew the Thai Army would have some good players,” Andrews said laughingly.
The day’s events concluded with a dinner for the leadership of each unit.
After this we’re going to break bread, have an informal social and get to know each other, Kleisner explained.
Starting Monday, both nations will be working closely together during training exercises for the next two weeks, building stronger ties and greater interoperability between the two nations.
“I’m just excited to be here and ready to get some good training,” Andrews beamed.
“Starting tomorrow we start getting serious, tomorrow is when we start all of the training we’re going to be doing with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry from the Royal Thai Army,” Kleisner explained. “This is the first time our battalion has gotten to do this exercise but it’s the 36th year the U.S Army has done it, which tells you a lot about the alliance we have with the Royal Thai Army.”

• Date Taken: 02.12.2017
• Date Posted: 02.14.2017 05:11
• Story ID: 223462
• Location: TH