Long Knife Squadron Rolls to Latvia

Photo By Sgt. Hubert Delany | Soldiers with the 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division load heavy armor equipment onto a train near Swietoszow, Poland on Dec. 2, 2017 as part of an emergency deployment readiness exercise in support of Atlantic Resolve. The 2nd ABCT demonstrates readiness by training and exercising its ability to quickly mass, mobilize and perform its warfighting functions with NATO allies; and by building and displaying maximum proficiency in its capabilities. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Hubert D. Delany III/22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)  

ADAZI, LATVIA

12.07.2017

Story by Spc. Hubert Delany 

22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment   

ADAZI, Latvia — The Army is a globally responsive force that can deploy at a moment’s notice. The Soldiers of 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment recently tested this ability during a no-notice drill in eastern Europe.

The exercise for the Fort Riley, Kan. based Soldiers assigned to 5-4 Cav., 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division tested the unit’s capacity to quickly move armored vehicles and equipment by rail from western Poland to Latvia Dec. 1-7, 2017.

Completing this mission required the Soldiers of the "Long Knife" squadron to rapidly determine the best methods to quickly move their equipment more than 700 miles and over international borders. Their solution combined military assets from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and the U.S.

“It's impressive, the speed at which coordination is made between NATO allies,” said 1st Lt. Kyle Bouchard, a Derry, New Hampshire native and the executive officer for 5-4 Cav’s “Tomahawk” Troop. “With such a daunting task at hand, everybody was extremely quick to work together to overcome any obstacles along the way.”

Military training can, at times, crawl along at a snail’s pace. This most recent drill was not an example of that, as it required the Soldiers to plan and execute their mission within 24 hours of receiving orders.

The discipline that the Soldiers displayed in the face of extreme environmental conditions showed just how well trained and how hard working they are, said Bouchard. “Every Soldier in our ranks has given everything they got. I appreciate them, and I am very proud of them for that.”

Over the next few months other units, like 5-4 Cav., in the 2nd ABCT will be executing similar missions throughout Europe as part of their deployment to Atlantic Resolve.

Atlantic Resolve is a U.S. mission to fulfill NATO commitments by rotating U.S.-based units throughout Europe.

“We are always supposed to be ready to fight at anytime and anywhere,” said Pfc. Shakir York, a Houston, Texas native and a cavalry scout in 5-4 Cav. “This is good training,” said York. “This kind of weather, this kind of place.. It’s one of the best parts about being in the Army”

• Date Taken: 12.07.2017
• Date Posted: 12.07.2017 15:39
• Story ID: 257806
• Location: ADAZI, LV
• Hometown: DE FOREST, WI, US
• Hometown: DERRY, NH, US
• Hometown: FORT RILEY, KS, US
• Hometown: HOUSTON, TX, US
• Hometown: ROLLA, MO, US