Knights, Slovenians build NATO Alliance through Vanguard 360 exercise

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Michael O'Brien | American and Slovenian EOD platoon sergeants exchange techniques here March 8. The 16th Sustainment Brigade’s Special Troops Battalion, along with the Slovenian Logistics Brigade and the 173rd Airborne Combat Team, worked together in a multifaceted live-fire logistical exercise leveraging the battalion’s capabilities here the first week of March.  

POSTONJA, SLOVENIA

03.29.2018

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Michael O'Brien 

16th Sustainment Brigade

POSTONJA, Slovenia – The 16th Sustainment Brigade’s Special Troops Battalion, along with the Slovenian Logistics Brigade and the 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion of the 173rd Airborne Combat Team, worked together in a multifaceted live-fire logistical exercise leveraging the battalion’s capabilities here the first week of March.

“This event with our Slovenian counterparts took two years to put together,” said Lt. Col. Brian Ketz, 16th Special Troops Battalion commander. “Our first year we executed Exercise Vanguard Proof and this year we’ve expanded to include partnered convoy live fire, explosive ordnance disposal, and airborne operations to show integration and are excited to work in austere conditions.”

Those conditions included freezing temperatures and heavy snow at the beginning of the week, which made the beautiful Slovenian landscape treacherous for driving and even walking at times, and then the rain made for a soggy, slippery training environment.

“I participated in this exercise last year and this year we’ve built on our relationship,” said Capt. Simon Luzar, operations officer with the Slovenian 157th Logistics Regiment and liaison officer for the exercise. “The Americans have more equipment, and when they go somewhere they bring their own, whereas when we travel to another country we rely on using that nation’s equipment. However, we also do many operations similarly because we have field manuals and Allied Joint Publications for doctrinal approaches to logistics that are close to the U.S.”

The Knights Brigade worked with elements of the 54th BEB in defending the perimeter of the base against simulated opposing forces who attacked the base with improvised explosive devices, small arms attacks, and dummies equipped with simulated suicide vests.

“Their team leaders are making the same types of decisions ours are but (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) teams in Slovenia and the U.S. organize themselves differently,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Essenmacher, a team leader with the battalion’s 720th EOD Company. “Working together is letting me as a junior leader see different considerations on how I can run my own team.

The EOD teams have integrated so much that there are Slovenians on the American team and vice versa.

“Our training here in Slovenia has opened up doors to our NATO interoperability,” said 1st Sgt. Benjamin Brinkmeyer, 720th EOD Company first sergeant. “We’re impressed with their technical skill set and it’s reassuring to know we have brothers and sisters to our left and right that we can lean on and learn from. I’ve worked EOD operations side by side with a few nations in Europe and the Slovenians are the most advanced by far.”

The 5th Quartermaster Theater Aerial Delivery Company had rigged an engineer vehicle and four palates of Meals Ready to Eat back in the rear at Rhine Ordnance Barracks the week prior in preparation for the exercise. Unfortunately, the foggy weather prevented the C-130 cargo plane from Ramstein Air Base to drop the equipment. The Knights and the 435th Contingency Response Group overcame by testing the weight of the load while in the air in the Kaiserslautern Military Community area.

“Our team here was unique because it was comprised of U.S. riggers and Slovenian pathfinders,” said Capt. Rizzoli Elias, 5th QM Commander. “What was great about this exercise for us as logisticians was that we planned and worked together to have U.S. equipment flown in Slovenian helicopters.”

“Our Allies here in Slovenia have shown us how capable and willing they are,” said Gautam Rana, American Deputy Ambassador to Slovenia. “We hope to continue what the 16th Sustainment Brigade has started in the coming years and to continue to build the NATO Alliance.”

The exercise bolstered confidence in our Allies and increased interoperability in the European theater by demonstrating European Command and U.S. Army Europe’s capacities to deploy and sustain troops throughout Europe.

• Date Taken: 03.29.2018
• Date Posted: 03.29.2018 05:18
• Story ID: 271036
• Location: POSTONJA, SI