GYOR, Hungary – After a weeklong road march through Eastern Europe, Soldiers with 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment completed Dragoon Crossing Sept. 17, with assistance from its Hungarian counterparts at the Moson-Danube River and a community static display in Gyor, Hungary.
The culminating event of Dragoon Crossing, was the challenge of a wet gap crossing, only the second one done in Europe since 1945, and members of the Hungarian Defense Force’s 37th “Ferenc Rakoczi II” Engineer Regiment provided much-needed support.
Among those in attendance, was Colleen Bell, United States Ambassador to Hungary, who spoke of the importance of the exercise.
“It’s wonderful to be here today,” she said. “This exercise is a very important exercise as it allows us and our allies to work together to improve our interoperability and capabilities.”
The wet gap crossing took place during Operation Atlantic Resolve, on going series of training exercises and community engagement events designed to build relationships, trust and interoperability between the U.S. and its NATO allies.
Following the exercise, a static display was held in the Gyor town square where members of the community explored the equipment and mingled with the U.S. and Hungarian Soldiers.
For Sgt. William Whisnant, of LaGrange, Georgia, senior medic 4th Squadron’s Outlaw Troop, this was just another aspect of Dragoon Crossing.
“Dragoon Crossing is a whole bunch of different elements put together. We are able to work with several different forces along with utilizing those forces to get us from one point to another,” he said. “It’s not just about us doing this on our own, we are utilizing all of our allies in many different ways in order to get there.”
Exercise Dragoon Crossing also strengthens the alliances between the U.S. and Europe on a personal level.
“It has also given us a chance to talk to the local people of each country that we visit and we are able to not only show them that we are friendly but also, give them a chance to explore and fill their minds with the wonder of what we actually do as the U.S. Army,” said Whisnant.
As the Strykers Soldiers moved on to their next mission, Whisnant hoped this team has left a good impression in the hearts of the beautiful countries and peoples he’s met on this journey.