VICENZA, Italy (Dec. 15, 2014) -- The 173rd Airborne Brigade's 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, conducted a battalion-sized airfield seizure exercise at an airbase in northern Italy, Wednesday evening, to further their readiness as the Army's Contingency Response Force in Europe.
"Today all the companies in the battalion are getting the opportunity to exit an aircraft and assault objectives," said Capt. Orlando Zambano, the battalion's logistics officer. "This operation will pay dividends for each individual company to assume the mission."
As the Army's Contingency Response Force, or ACRF, the brigade is ready to deploy forces within 18 hours or less, and conduct the full range of military operations across the United States European, Central and Africa Commands' areas of responsibility.
This exercise demonstrated the battalion can take an airfield when called upon, said Sgt. 1st Class Tyler Benge from "Destined" Company.
This is a complex operation it's the first time the unit has conducted a battalion-sized airfield seizure this year, said Zambano.
The operation required careful planning and integration with both Italian allies and U.S. air assets. The paratroopers conducted a parachute assault on the airfield, held by an opposing force, then secured the runway in order to land aircraft, build combat power and perform further operations off the airfield.
The battalion collaborated with Italian allies at Rivolto Air Force Base and U.S. Air Force C-17 pilots from the Heavy Airlift Wing stationed in Papa, Hungary, to accomplish the exercise.
"That was probably the most important and best coordination that we did," said Zambano.
Each company had their own mission within the operation. These missions included: clearing nearby buildings, securing the perimeter of the airfield, securing the runway and taxi, and conducting shackle training (tethering vehicles onto the aircraft to transport them and then unshackling them to drive off the aircraft).
"I enjoyed the night jump," said Pvt. Leroy Chapman, an infantryman from "Able" Company. "It was my first night jump."
The "Sky Soldiers" prepared for this exercise by completing multiple jumps into other countries, such as Slovenia, practicing building clearing and shackle training.
"We're in the walk phase of the crawl-walk-run model," said Zambano. "Within the next few months, we plan to conduct an airfield seizure in Papa, Hungary, and increase the complexity and difficulty of what's expected of the units on the ground."
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