Photo By Staff Sgt. Casey Hustin | CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - Sgt. 1st Class Dimitri Berkmiller with the German StVersKp...... read more read more
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CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo — Military Police Officers with the 977th Military Police Company, 97th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, hosted more than 30 German and Polish Soldiers during an M9 pistol qualification range at Camp Bondsteel May 10.
The German and Polish contingencies supporting the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) mission had the chance to earn an Army Marksmanship Badge with the M9 pistol.
“They want to train and get the cool guy badges,” said Staff Sgt. Samuel L. Da Giau, squad leader and range safety officer with the 977th Military Police Company. “It’s good to see how different countries operate and how they do things to achieve the standards.”
The range was coordinated between the German operations officer from KFOR's German contingent and KFOR's Multi-National Battle Group - East (MNBG-E). The event followed the Schutzenschnur, a German Armed Forces marksmanship qualification range, which allowed U.S. and Polish Soldiers to familiarize and qualify with the G36 rifle, P8 pistol and the Vollmer M35, in Orahovac, Kosovo, May 3.
“It’s a very unique experience that a lot of Soldiers will never be a part of,” said Sgt. Joseph E. Adams, a military policeman and range safety officer. “They don’t understand English as much as I don’t understand German, so I got to show them how to put the weapon on safe, load the magazine, charge the weapon--it’s pretty cool.”
The purpose of the exchange of weapons knowledge between nations was to contribute to interoperability between the forces.
“It’s a great occasion to know other army tactics,” said 1st. Lt. Tomasz Wutka, a Polish contingent soldier with the 6th Airborne Brigade in Kosovo.
Soldiers’ tactical understanding is improved through coordinated training events like these.
“That was my first time firing the shotgun--it was awesome really; I enjoyed it,” said 2nd Lt. Zadrian Kluczkowski, a Polish contingent soldier with the 6th Airborne Brigade in Kosovo.
Continuing shared training events is an important goal for Multi-National Battle Group - East.
“Being able to have multinational forces come together and try to earn each country's badge is the type of comradery that NATO and MNBG-E wants and needs during each KFOR rotation,” said Staff Sgt. William Bonilla, with the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, California National Guard, and the MNBG-E Operations Training NCO, and co-coordinator of the events. “We will continue to coordinate with the German and Polish contingents throughout the KFOR 24 rotation.”
| Date Taken: | 05.11.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.11.2018 10:48 |
| Story ID: | 276676 |
| Location: | CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ |
| Web Views: | 520 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Interoperability range: MPs host, Germans & Polish fire M9s, by SSG Casey Hustin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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