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Soldiers from the Nebraska Army National Guard’s Company E (Long-Range Surveillance), 134th Infantry Regiment, had the opportunity to train in some pretty unique terrain, Sept. 8-30, when they participated in the Swedish armed forces’ largest military exercise in more than 20 years.
The two-week exercise, Aurora 2017, took place in some of the wet, swampy areas of Sweden located around the cities of Mälardalen, Stockholm, Gotland and Gothenburg.
The exercise had over 20,000 participants from nine different countries including Denmark, Finland, France and Norway. Sweden is not a NATO country, but other countries participating in Aurora 2017 were NATO members.
Over 60 Nebraska Army National Guard Soldiers were included in the exercise along with Soldiers from the Kentucky and Minnesota Army National Guard. The exercise also included active duty Soldiers, Marines and Sailors.
The main mission for the Nebraska Guard Soldiers was to provide long-range surveillance over watch and gather battlefield intelligence for the Swedish and other forces participating in Aurora 2017. The first half of the mission was spent working with the Swedish armed forces, while the second half serving as opposing forces against the Swedish troops.
“Getting to integrate with Sweden, a non-NATO country, is pretty awesome,” said Staff Sgt. Luke Katz, Co. E (LRS), 134th Infantry. “A lot of people don’t actually get to go to (overseas deployment training) like this and get to jump with other countries.”
“Doing this opens a door for the Nebraska National Guard as a whole and gives us a good name for ourselves. Sweden said that they had a great time working with the Nebraska National Guard,” Katz added.
The Nebraska Soldiers also had the opportunity for another unique opportunity: earning Swedish jump wings. Among airborne units, Soldiers can be awarded jump wings of a foreign country after the Soldier completes a jump within the country or under a foreign jumpmaster. The Nebraska Guardsmen who participated in this exercise received their Sweden foreign jump wings after they completed one or two jumps using Swedish parachutes.
“Sweden usually doesn’t give the wings out,” Katz said. “Earning those jump wings was a big step forward for those Soldiers who were willing to stay with the LRS until it is disbanded.”
The Swedish exercise actually marked an addition to the unit’s annual training this year. Earlier, the Soldiers worked alongside of members of 2nd Brigade, Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, in February.
| Date Taken: | 11.20.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.12.2017 11:40 |
| Story ID: | 258413 |
| Location: | LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 118 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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