HOHENFELS, Germany --The "Sky Soldiers" of the 173rd Airborne Brigade -- backed by a century of tactical proficiency -- brought their skills and knowledge here at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center this month.
It was no surprise Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade based at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy, were recruited to share their knowledge as augmentee Soldiers for Saber Junction 15 at JMRC.
Saber Junction 15 is a U.S. Army Europe-led exercise designed to train a brigade-level unit to operate with Allied and partner nations as part of a combined force. Nearly 4,700 military members from 17 countries are participating in the exercise.
OBSERVING, COACHING, TRAINING
At Saber Junction 15, the Sky Soldiers worked as observer coach trainers, known as OCTs, a role filled by some of the most experienced leaders in the Army. They assessed incoming units on their tactics, techniques and procedures, and provided feedback on how to improve future movements. They served as an educational resource for the units training in the field, a role easily filled by the highly trained Soldiers.
"The 173rd Infantry Brigade is the Army's premiere airborne unit filled with the highest quality officers and noncommissioned officers," said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lee of the 1st Bn., 503rd Inf. Regt . "Who better to be the stewards of the standards and to work as coaches?"
OCTs observed from a distance as the teams maneuvered about the battlefield, watching for small mistakes that the leadership involved in the training may not have seen. As a leader actively working on the battlefield, errors in team movement or holes in planning procedures may have gone unobserved due to being too close to the action.
As the rotational unit began to move, the OCTs watched for possible errors.
"I know how to move Soldiers across the battlefield and, when I see a mistake, I ask if I've made that mistake in the past and remember the lessons I learned from it," Lee said.
When the team leadership briefed an operation order, the OCTs listened to see whether the proper procedure was followed and if the leadership took into consideration all possible factors in the area, including possible fire hazards, civilians on the battlefield and assets available for response.
AUGMENTING THE FULL-TIME FORCE
"Bringing in augmentees gives us fresh eyes and keeps an honest assessment," said Sgt. 1st Class Travis Hutt, JMRC operations group. "It helps us stay fresh and motivated."
Benefits of working in a joint training environment go far behind the multinational relationships that are built. Even within the U.S. Army, units often approach scenarios from different angles. Bringing several units' most recognized NCOs into one training environment allowed the Soldiers to learn how to increase accuracy of movement on the battlefield from an outside view.
"It has been both informational and educational to see another Army unit conduct tactical operations from the sideline," Lee said. "It highlights both wrong and right things to do. As a leader, it will make me more appreciative and aware of certain things."
U.S. Soldiers regularly transition to new duty stations, meaning many of the Soldiers serving in different units today may be in the same unit in the future.
"The Army is one big family," Lee said. "Soldiers never stay in the same place long. Eventually these Soldiers and I may be in the same unit. My unit should take from this the chance to better the Army as a whole. We will eventually meet up again, and if we all learn from this we will all be better off."
LEARNING WHILE TEACHING
The benefits of corroborating with other U.S. Army units are felt by many of the Sky Soldiers.
"We gain insight by helping the 2nd Calvary Regiment," said Sgt. 1st Class Corey Thomas. "We achieve an objective while seeing how two units with different mindsets do things differently."
Units that traveled to JMRC gained insight on their own team's strengths and weaknesses while building relationships with service members from other nations. The multinational teams learned new tactics from one another while creating bonds that will increase efficiency throughout NATO.
"We benefit by opening that line of communication and exposing our Soldiers to different countries and their armies to improve interoperability amongst NATO forces," Lee said.
A major goal of Saber Junction is to improve interoperability between NATO military forces and their allies. By diversifying the leadership team, even more insight can be brought to the attention of U.S. forces.
"Having augmentees gives us a different understanding of the challenges of working with multinational counterparts," Hutt said. "It's a rewarding experience and gives us a different perspective. We are able to pick their brains about how they see things."
With countless military mindsets amongst the multinational troops, the opportunity to familiarize Soldiers with different cultures increased Soldiers' ability to be adaptive in new environments.
"The experience builds from our perspectives," Thomas said. "It can be difficult to partner with different countries due to fighting through barriers and different cultural backgrounds, but we still have the same goals in mind."
Related Links:
Joint Multinational Readiness Center
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