Photo By 1st Sgt. Thaddeus Harrington | Solders from the Maryland Army National Guard's 175th Infantry Regiment conduct ambush...... read more read more
Soldiers from the Maryland Army National Guard's 175th Infantry Regiment shared their expertise in ambush tactics with members of the Estonian Defence League in Rutja, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia. The training, which took place from September 16-18, 2023, was conducted in rotations, with each squad of 8-10 soldiers learning how to set up, react to, and plan ambushes.
After completing their training with the Maryland soldiers, the Estonian Defence League members will continue on to other field exercises with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) partners from the United Kingdom and France.
“The 18 of us are training about 750 a day over three days on section ambush,” said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Mathew Hawkland, D Co., 1-175 Inf. Regt. first sergeant. “We have… as long as we want, as long as it takes, to get the Estonians trained up to the point where they want to be.”
Ambush tactics are a critical skill for soldiers to learn, as they can be used to surprise and defeat an enemy force. The Estonian Defence League is akin to a volunteer reserve force, and is an organization under the Estonian Ministry of Defence, to enhance the readiness of the nation to defend the independence of Estonia. The training is part of a larger effort to strengthen ties of the MDNG’s partnership with Estonia and between NATO allies to improve their ability to operate together.
“I have been on, I believe, 12 State Partnership Program missions so far - all of them have been to Estonia," said Hawkland, reflecting on the differences over the years. “It almost seems like the forces get more organized, they're planning better and they're more in sync with us. There's less issues between how we would plan and how they used to plan. It's almost like they're just part of another unit, an adjacent unit that we would see in the U.S. Army.”
The 175th Infantry Regiment is one of the oldest regiments in the U.S. Army, tracing its roots to America’s colonial days and fighting to help ensure the United States of America’s independence.
The fight for independence is one the Estonians experienced in their more recent past. Some throughout the nation are observing Resistance Fighting Day on September 22. This day in 1944 was the end of the Nazi occupation and the start of the resistance to the Soviet occupation. Estonia regained its independence in 1991, was admitted into NATO in 2004 and became Maryland’s partner nation in 1993.
| Date Taken: | 09.19.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2023 07:40 |
| Story ID: | 453933 |
| Location: | 59, EE |
| Web Views: | 69 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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