Photo By Sgt. Joseph Guenther | Col. Carl Alex, the commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division,...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. – A signature element of the war on terrorism that many Americans and citizens around the world are familiar with what has been the United States working hand-in-hand with our allies in the U.N. to build a coalition force. This unity allows multiple nations to bring together both manpower and a variety of ideas to the battlefield, creating an edge against terrorists and hostile nations.
The leadership of the 82nd Airborne Division and its 3rd Brigade Combat Team recognize the value of this type of international team building, and are going to great lengths to train their own Paratroopers in this concept by deeply integrating Paratroopers of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Royal Canadian Regiment, located at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, in Ontario.
More than 140 Canadian troopers have been tightly involved in every facet of Paratrooper life in the 82nd Airborne from physical training, to Basic Airborne Refresher training, to the Joint Operations Access Exercise (JOAX) on Feb. 12, 2012.
“The purpose of the JOAX is to exercise our ability as a joint force to seize and establish a lodgment for U.S. operations,” said Lt. Col. David Gardner, the commander of 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
“We made them a company in the battalion,” said Maj. Jeffery Burroughs, the operations officer for 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. “The day they showed up, they started attending meetings just as if they were another company.”
“We were treated like family as soon as we got here,” said Maj. Kris Reeves, the commander of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Royal Canadian Regiment. “We trained with them, the loadmasters here looked at our equipment so they would know how to load it properly, and we went to training meetings where we were a part of the team. I briefed the commander as if I were another company in the battalion.”
“Some of our guys don’t even want to go back,” Reeves continued.
One element of military life that every leader in the 82nd Airborne Division feels very strongly about is physical training, not only as a force multiplier, but also for its team building elements. Burroughs explained that on a rotational basis, platoons from Company M, 3rd RCR reported to 2-505th companies for accountability and PT.
They cross-trained in each others styles of leadership and development, giving Paratroopers at every level an opportunity to learn how military operations are conducted on both sides of the border.
The Paratroopers of the 3rd RCR even participated the XVIII Airborne Corps Run on Feb. 2, 2012, as a clear show of deep integration.
Burroughs added that in addition to bringing added manpower to the battlefield, the 3rd RCR brings other added capabilities such as scouts, pathfinders, and joint terminal attack controllers, as well as weapons that the 2-505th doesn’t possess such as recoilless rifles.
“The Canadian participation in JOAX cuts both ways,” said Capt. Raphael Mackenzie, the second in command for Company M. “It gives us an opportunity to participate in airborne exercises at the battalion, brigade, and division level, which is something we can’t replicate in Canada.”
The inability to replicate large airborne operations isn’t due to a lack of equipment, manpower, or facilities, said Reeves. It’s instead due to the structure of the Canadian army. Unlike the American Army, which has entire battalions who are fully airborne qualified, the Canadians have battalions whose capabilities are mixed based on modes of delivery of manpower and equipment. This mixture usually only requires one airborne company in a battalion, normally called a Parachute Company Group, said Reeves.
In addition to cross-training Paratroopers of the two nations, it gives the 82nd Airborne Division the opportunity to train in the integration of coalition forces for the Global Response Force, said Mackenzie.
The two weeks of integration and planning and training demonstrated its value in the early morning hours during the JOAX Feb. 12, 2012, as Canadian forces parachuted into 3rd BCT’s area of operations with their 2-505th counterparts, and assisted in assaulting objectives across the battlefield.
Among those objectives were seizing notional high value targets played by “opposing forces” by other 82nd Paratroopers within hours of the initial assault from villages several miles away, and evacuating other Paratroopers who were playing civilians from a nearby set of buildings representing an embassy.
Due to an early weather decision to delay the JOAX by 24 hours, several aircraft were no longer able to participate, and many of the jumpers were flown onto the area of operations hours later. Despite setbacks, the JOAX was a success due largely to the efforts of every Paratrooper on the ground American and Canadian, said Gardner.
Gardner explained, “They performed outstanding. From the initial jumper to making the airfield operational, they did an outstanding job.”
“It is no small feat to be able to drop on a drop zone that half of the force had never seen before in the middle of the night and accomplish all their missions that they had not done specifically before on a JOAX, and still have aircraft landing on time with no major issue, that’s success. That’s outstanding.” Gardner said.
| Date Taken: | 02.12.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.21.2012 19:30 |
| Story ID: | 84136 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,003 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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