For most military units, training is a regular and almost daily part of the job. For one unit, the Croatian army Self Propelled Rocket Launcher Storm Battery, the last year of training has been building up to one single training event. The Storm Battery, members of Battle Group Poland taking part in Saber Strike 18 at the Bemowo Piskie Training Area, are contributing to the exercise by providing high mobility rocket launch capabilities to the eighth iteration of the long-standing U.S. Army Europe-led cooperative training exercise designed to enhance interoperability among allies and regional partners.
The Storm Battery is eager to prove what they can do in a real-world training environment.
“This system can deliver 2 1/2 tons of missiles over an area ranging from 5km to 20km away in only 16 seconds,” said 1st Lt. Mihael Pintaric, the executive officer of Storm Battery. “This is a capability that the Howitzer cannon cannot match and this system is highly mobile as well, so after we shoot we can pick up and change locations very quickly.”
Pintaric is not only able to operate the missile system itself, but also focuses his soldiers on absorbing and learning as much of Saber Strike 18 as they can.
“The main reason we are here is to learn how our allied nations work so we can familiarize ourselves with one another and become more effective as a unit so we are better able to succeed and accomplish the mission,” added Pintaric.
This uncommon opportunity to learn is also something that Pintaric and the Storm Battery has trained for and anticipated for quite some time.
As Saber Strike 18 continues Pintaric described how much of an importance he and his countrymen place on rising to the challenges presented here at the Bemowo Piskie Training Area.
“For us, we’ve spent more than a year back home in Croatia to prepare for Saber Strike 18, and we have confidence that when the time comes, we will play our part in this exercise successfully,” said Pintaric.
As they continue to train and push their abilities to the limit alongside their allies in Battle Group Poland, Pintaric believes the significance of this kind of exercise is unmatched and the opportunity to train alongside their regional partners has been incredibly important.
“The training has been a great experience and is extremely valuable to us because we don’t have many chances to train in such a multi-national environment like Saber Strike 18. As a part of the NATO force we have to be able to operate together with our allies successfully,” said Pintaric. “It’s a great benefit to experience this training that we normally wouldn’t be able to take part in back home in Croatia.”
With the capabilities the Storm Battery can bring to the fight and the determination of leaders like Pintaric, as well as the continued coordination with their allies, Saber Strike 18 will continue to increase the potential of both the Croatian army and Battle Group Poland.