Photo By Sgt. Steven Schneider | Fifty-third Quartermaster Company soldiers, Spc. Alexander Ragalevitch and Sgt. Israel...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas - Fort Hood provides one-of-a-kind training opportunity for Dutch air assault soldiers and helicopter pilots. This training would not be possible without the support of the 21st Cavalry Brigade and the 15 personnel tasked from Fort Hood major support commands that help facilitate the training.
Five of these taskers come from the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and help support the training by doing everything from setting up tents to range support to acting as opposition forces. The service these troops are able to provide for the incoming Dutch trainees is crucial to a successful training mission.
There is only 23 permanent staff working on the 21st Cav. Bde. Joint Netherland Training Detachment and the mission would not be possible without the supporting soldiers.
“The taskers provide invaluable support to a successful training mission,” said Dutch Air Force Maj. Jereon Van Bruchem, air operations for the JNTD.
The set up of training sites would not be possible without the support because there are only four permanent party American troops, said said Staff Sgt. Michael Spadoni, foreign military training operations non-commissioned officer in Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 21st Cav. Bde.
“We could not finish 75 percent of what we have to do without the taskers,” he said.
Due to the limited space in the Netherlands, it is very difficult to do this type of training there. The Netherlands is only about half the size of Fort Hood’s Western Training Area.
“There is 16 million people in the Netherlands in very limited space, so it is very difficult to train,” said Van Bruchem. “There are a lot of noise complaints.”
In May 2011, the members from the Dutch army joined their air force counterparts already training at Fort Hood with the support of the 21st Cav. Bde. Dutch air force pilots have been training at Fort Hood for 12 years.
The 31 days of training includes leadership development, field first aid, static loading and other infantry and air assault common tasks. The training culminates with a five-day practical exercise.
Not only do the Dutch gain from the troops support, the soldiers get valuable training, Spadoni said.
“We train them in anything they don’t have knowledge in,” said Spadoni about the taskers.
That training includes radio operations, setting up pop-up targets, running convoys and working on vehicles.
The supporting soldiers understand, they are allowing these Dutch troops to get invaluable training.
“I love it,” said Sgt. Israel Quintero, tasker from the 53rd Quartermaster Company, 553rd Combat Support Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade.
Spc. Alexander Ragalevitch, 53rd QM Co. tasker, said he just returned from the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., and providing the support for the JNTD would be helpful for soldiers who are getting ready for an NTC rotation.
“This is a lot like an NTC environment, and I think it would help soldiers prepare for what they are going to do at NTC,” he said.
Overall, both sides get a lot from the experience, Spadoni said. The Dutch army gets to do training they wouldn’t otherwise have been able to do, and Fort Hood gets to extend its partnership with the Dutch forces.
| Date Taken: | 01.23.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 01.25.2012 14:51 |
| Story ID: | 82820 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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