GRAFENWOEHR TRAINING AREA, Germany (Oct. 22, 2014) -- Approximately 90
paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade's 1st Squadron, 91st
Cavalry Regiment conducted an airborne operation into Campia Turzi,
Romania, yesterday, to start the field portion of an Emergency
Deployment Readiness Exercise, referred to as an EDRE.
The exercise tests the paratroopers' ability to plan and execute
full-spectrum operations on short notice as the U.S. Army Contingency
Response Force in Europe. As such, the brigade provides ready troops to
deploy within 18 hours, anywhere in the U.S. European, Africa or Central
Command areas of responsibility.
Some 24 hours prior, instead of reporting to work for scheduled
training, the squadron instead received notification from the brigade
headquarters they would be deploying to Romania the next morning. The
squadron then conducted mission analysis and began the orders process,
drew necessary weapons and equipment, and headed to Grafenwoehr Army
Airfield to don parachutes, conduct mission briefs and load the awaiting
U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft.
"We started with a warning order at [6 a.m.]," said Maj. Matthew Work,
the brigade's executive officer, referring to the surprise notification.
"This is part of building the readiness culture we have in the 173rd
[Airborne Brigade], and building upon what we've been asked to do for
U.S. Army Europe in expanding our EDRE capability."
After three hours in the air, approximately 900 kilometers east, the
paratroopers jumped in all the equipment and supplies they would need
for the next three days. From the drop zone, the paratroopers made
linkup with Romanian troops on the ground, who played the role of
host-nation forces in the scenario the paratroopers are operating in.
"These guys are thinking about once they leave the aircraft, what they
have to do when they hit the ground to be able to assemble quickly and
move out to their objective," said Sgt. Maj. Steven Campbell, the
brigade's operations non-commissioned officer in charge. "It gets right
at the heart of being ready to go at a moment's notice. Once they
conduct the airborne assault, the commanders and leaders will be
challenged because they'll be deprived of a lot of things -- sleep, food
-- they're going to move long distances. The commander will have to
take the intelligence he receives along the way and make critical
decisions, which will drive where their unit goes."
As part of the EDRE, the brigade purposefully introduced stressors such
as the uncertain environment, long foot movements and lack of sleep, all
with an active opposing force in the area.
"Part of this EDRE is having our Soldiers being comfortable with the
unknown," explained Work. "We are going to get our leaders and Soldiers
to a point where they are tired and uncomfortable. They're going to deal
with the unknown and cause people to think differently under stress and
duress."
This is leader training all throughout, from the private all the way
through the organization," added Work. "We have a number of scenarios
that are set up to test leaders and help them think through problems.
It's a phenomenal event that stresses the organization."
For the brigade, the execution of the drill is the culmination of months
of effort, coordinating with the Romanian military and U.S. Embassy in
Bucharest to provide tough, realistic training for the paratroopers.
"We've worked closely with our Romanian allies over the weeks leading up
to this exercise," said Capt. David Dean, a brigade logistical planner
who liaised with Romanian military forces in planning the exercise.
Their professionalism and efforts in planning this event made this
possible."
The EDRE is the first in a series of planned exercises over the next two
months involving troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, alongside
their NATO allies in Romania. The exercises are a part of Operation
Atlantic Resolve, demonstrating U.S. commitment to NATO collective
defense as well as building interoperability with allied forces.
Romania has been and continues to be a strong NATO ally," said Dean. "An
exercise likes this demonstrates that and sets the stage for a series
of future exercises to build on."
The EDRE comes just two weeks after the brigade finished its six-month
deployment to Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania. The "Sky Soldiers" of the 173rd Airborne Brigade transferred
responsibility for that portion of the Atlantic Resolve mission to
Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry
Division.
"It's all about readiness," said Campbell. "They have to be ready. We
don't know where we're going next, but we know we have to be ready at a
moment's notice to answer the call."
http://www.army.mil/article/136632/Sky_Soldiers_parachute_into_Romania_for_rapid_deployment_exercise/
By Maj. Michael J Weisman, U.S. Army Europe
No comments:
Post a Comment