Photo By Patrick Loch | His Majesty Felipe VI, King of Spain, visits with Col. Dean Roberts, commander, 510th...... read more read more
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A visit by the King of Spain marked the conclusion of exercise Swift Response, and made a remarkable end for U.S. and Allied Soldiers supporting the airborne exercise and DEFENDER 23 in the windy desert of northeast Spain.
After flying into the San Gregorio Training Area, near Zaragoza, Spain, on May 18, 2023, His Majesty King Felipe VI met with Col. Dean Roberts, commander, 510th Regional Support Group, and senior leaders from the multinational formations executing the exercise before hosting lunch for about 150 Soldiers.
"We are incredibly humbled that the King of Spain came out here to show his appreciation and celebrate with us what has been a fantastic exercise," Roberts said. "We share the same objective, which is to provide the resources, tools and ability for our warfighters to conduct their important training mission."
After dining on local cuisine, the King made his rounds to greet every service member in attendance, including U.S. Army Spc. Emilio Sanchez, a 510th RSG Soldier who hails from Spain.
“Meeting the king in my home country was an honor that I never thought I would have,” Sanchez said. “We spoke about the exercise and about the friendship between Spain and the U.S.A.. I think the King’s visit inspire all of us to keep serving our countries. Being recognized and thanked for the hard work we have done from the leader of Spain helped strengthen the partnership between both countries and every other country that participated in the exercise.”
During his remarks, King Felipe VI commended the unity of the multinational force carrying out the exercise, and the work of the Spanish Castillejos Division leading three separate Joint Forcible Entry airborne operations in the Baltic and Mediterranean Sea regions.
And while meeting royalty was a first for the 510th Soldiers in attendance, conducting their base support responsibilities in support of DEFENDER 23 was not. Following activities in Hungary in 2021, and Latvia and Estonia in 2022, the brigade brought their specialized support to Spain to ensure base and logistics support for the hundreds of Allied soldiers from France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the U.S.
"We have the privilege to support DEFENDER 23 and both the U.S.’s ability to project a credible combat force...to provide the installation, the facilities, the services, the maintenance, the fuel – all of these things that enable our warfighters, and our partners, to conduct their important training mission,” Roberts said.
The 510th RSG completed its redeployment tasks to ensure the safe and effective maneuver back to their headquarters in Sembach, Germany, and looks forward to another year of partnership and integration to support Allies and partners in the theater.
“For us to do our mission, for us to realize NATO’s larger objectives, for us to realize a national security strategy...in this theater it takes our European Allies and partners and host nations,” Roberts said. “We couldn’t have a better partner and Ally in the Spanish.”
DEFENDER 23 is a U.S. Army Europe and Africa led exercise focused on the strategic deployment of continental United States-based forces, employment of Army Prepositioned Stocks, and interoperability with Allies and partners. Taking place from 22 April to 23 June, DEFENDER 23 demonstrates USAREUR-AF’s ability to aggregate U.S.-based combat power quickly in Eastern Europe, increase lethality of the NATO Alliance through long-distance fires, build unit readiness in a complex joint, multi-national environment, and leverage host nation capabilities to increase USAREUR-AF’s operational reach. DEFENDER 23 includes more than 7,000 U.S. and 17,000 multi-national service members from more than 20 nations who will participate including, but not limited to: Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States.
| Date Taken: | 05.18.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 06.02.2023 07:39 |
| Story ID: | 445439 |
| Location: | ES |
| Web Views: | 47 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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