Exercise Arrow 23

Photo By Sgt. Jacob Nunnenkamp | General Timo Kivinen, Finnish Defense Forces commander (right), gives a coin to Lt. Col. Jay Ireland, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment's commander, during Arrow 23 in Niinisalo Training Area, Finland, May 4, 2023. Exercise Arrow is an annual, multinational exercise involving armed forces from the U.S., U.K., Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, who train with the Finnish Defense Forces in high-intensity, force-on-force engagements and live-fire exercises to increase military readiness and promote interoperability among partner nations. (U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Jacob Nunnenkamp)  

NIINISALO, FINLAND

05.12.2023

Story by Sgt. Brayton Daniel 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

Niinasalo, FINLAND – Troopers assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, participated in Arrow 23, the first exercise held in Finland since their joining of NATO, April 29 through May 14.
Exercise Arrow is an annual, multinational exercise involving armed forces from the U.S., U.K., Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, who train the Finnish Defense Forces in high-intensity, force-on-force engagements and live-fire exercises to increase military readiness and promote interoperability among partner nations.
“Arrow 23 is extremely important for all of our partners in the region to allow us to increase our interoperability and our ability to work together as a team and develop our combat readiness,” said Lt. Col. Jay Ireland, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment commander. “This exercise allowed us to focus on the human, procedural, and technical interoperability that is absolutely required when working with such a diverse array of partners.”
With Finland recently becoming the 31st ally within NATO, the purpose of Arrow 23 became an exercise of improving interoperability with each nation sharing its knowledge on the battlefield.
“The participation of NATO allies will create a multinational environment in the exercise in which we will get to test our combat technical interoperation capability,” said Col. Kuosmanen, Arrow 23 commander.
The exercise was hosted by the Finnish Armored Brigade, which hosted five other NATO partners with over 2,200 soldiers.
“There were several moments when fighting where Estonians were on my right side and Finnish on my left,” said 1st Lt. Christopher Mitchel, Charlie Company platoon leader. “To be able to coordinate, communicate, and share knowledge is crucial. It’s important that we get these repetitions in with our NATO allies.”
Multinational Soldiers were tested with simulated combat scenarios in which Soldiers, both mounted and on-foot, experienced communicating together as a combined NATO force.
“Over the course of the last week, it’s shown that training with combat brings out how quickly we get along with each other,” said 1st Sgt. Philip Grawzis, Charlie Company first sergeant.
As the training came to a close, Ireland was pleased with the overall success of the exercise.
“The final thing I wanted to say was thank you to the Finnish hosts and the Finnish Defense Forces,” said Ireland. “The reception that we received here has been truly phenomenal and the support has been absolutely incredible, so I want to say thank you, and I look forward to all future endeavors together.”
Following the exercise, Kuosmanen was pleased with how efficiently the U.S. Troopers were able to utilize Arrow 23, and it was “Truly remarkable to notice the U.S. Soldier’s high motivation for cooperation and training together,” said Kuosmanen.

• Date Taken: 05.12.2023
• Date Posted: 05.12.2023 12:09
• Story ID: 444604
• Location: NIINISALO, FI