Photo By Staff Sgt. Amber Peck | U.S. Army Sgt. Joseline Sosa, a forward observer with 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry...... read more read more
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TORUŃ, Poland – Soldiers with the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Illinois Army National
Guard, recently spent two weeks in Torún, Poland, training alongside members of the Polish
Territorial Defence Force.
Since 1993, the Illinois National Guard and Poland have been partners in the Department of
Defense National Guard State Partnership Program – an initiative that pairs Guard elements
with partner nations worldwide for joint military training and subject matter expert exchanges.
The two-week training in June focused on sniper operations, combat medical care, the Javelin
anti-tank weapon system, and remote observer techniques.
For the sniper teams, the goal was to strengthen leadership skills in employing and overseeing
sniper sections as well as developing advanced sniper expertise.
“Our goal as a training team is to ensure we are equipping the Polish snipers with the tools to
employ themselves against drones and thermal environments,” said Sgt. 1st Class Hussein
Mashal, an infantryman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 178th
Infantry Regiment. “By merging our techniques with theirs and the lessons learned from the
Ukrainian war, we hope to strengthen their sniper employment capabilities and survivability.”
In the medical realm, Soldiers with the Illinois Army Guard’s Charlie Company, 634th Brigade Support
Battalion shared casualty care treatment procedures - from the point of injury to the final point of
care.
This iteration included complex training scenarios that allowed participants to triage and
evaluate casualties in a realistic, stressful simulated combat environment.
“It’s always worth it working with the National Guard,” said Polish TDF 2nd Lt. Jakub Piotrowski,
a medical team member and instructor. “We do the same things in different ways so it’s
worthwhile to see how a different army is doing the same thing and then be able to cooperate
with it.”
Javelin instructors echoed that sentiment.
“The Polish soldiers were extremely motivated and eager to learn,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt.
Nicholas Broden, a training noncommissioned officer with C Company, 1st Bn., 178th Inf. Regt.
“They were always asking questions and were very hands on with the equipment.”
Previous training exchanges meant many of the Polish soldiers already had foundational
knowledge of the Javelin systems. That allowed the training to advance quickly to more
strategic and tactical discussions, said Broden.
For the forward observer teams – or remote observers – the focus was on establishing the
fundamental skills for indirect fire coordination, a capability the TDF is actively strengthening as
they expand artillery capabilities.
“We started off pretty basic with basic call for fire and then basic joint fires observer skills,” said
U.S. Army Master Sgt. William Aitken, an operations NCO with the 33rd IBCT. “It's kind of an
abbreviated forward observer program for the TDF.”
The training also included high tech capabilities – such as employing small drones – combined
with improvised concealment techniques to help Polish soldiers observe from a distance while
staying hidden. The team practiced setting up hasty observation posts, coordinating drone feeds
with command elements, and minimizing visual and electronic signatures – skills directly
influenced by lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.
Overall, the training helped strengthen and continue the 30-plus year partnership.
“Our partnership with Poland, which began in 1993 and included 19 years of co-deployments to
Afghanistan and Iraq, is the gold standard of deployments,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Lenny
Williams, the Illinois National Guard’s assistant adjutant general for Army. “We learn, we teach,
and we develop new tactics and techniques together with each critical knowledge exchange
event. Our capabilities have improved, we’ve expanded our capacity, and our partnership has
grown even stronger the past two weeks.”
| Date Taken: | 06.22.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.22.2025 20:06 |
| Story ID: | 501196 |
| Location: | TORUN, PL |
| Web Views: | 147 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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