10th AAMDC air defense Soldiers deploy to Czech Republic for missile defense exercise

By Sgt. 1st Class Randall Jackson, 10th AAMDC Public AffairsJune 26, 2015

Tobruq Legacy 2015 Opening Ceremony
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A combined formation of Soldiers from the Ohio National Guard of the 174th Air Defense Brigade and from the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command from Kaiserslautern, Germany take part in an opening day ceremony for Exercise Tobruq Legacy in the ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Tolbruq Legacy 2015 Air Defense Exercise Opening Ceremony
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A combined formation of Soldiers from the Ohio National Guard of the 174th Air Defense Brigade and from the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command from Kaiserslautern, Germany take part in an opening day ceremony for Exercise Tobruq Legacy in the ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Air Defenders share common interests in equipment
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Chief Warrant Officer 3 Wesley Dohogn, from the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command gets a lesson from a Czech Republic Air Defender on the controls of one of their air defense vehicles during the opening ceremony for exercise Tobruq Legacy 201... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Air Defenders share common interests in equipment
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Slovakian airmen show members of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command their air defense vehicle during the opening ceremony for exercise Tobruq Legacy 2015 June 25 in Boletice, Czech Republic. They are here with other members of the 10th AAM... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Boletice, Czech Republic -- Nearly 500 soldiers and airmen from 5 NATO countries are standing side by side in the Czech Republic at the opening ceremony of Tobruq Legacy 15, an air defense exercise that runs from June 25 to July 3.

Tobruq Legacy 15 is an air defense airspace surveillance and live fire exercise designed to increase interoperability among the participating NATO partner countries of Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, the U.S. and the Czech Republic.

The U.S. Army Europe based 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command sent a contingent of Soldiers to conduct Ground Based Air Defense operations along with a Sentinel radar platoon from the Ohio National Guard's 174th Air Defense Brigade.

During the ceremony, Deputy Commander of the Czech Air Force Brigadier General Jaromir Sebesta welcomed the international soldiers and airmen and expressed the importance of such training.

"It is the first time in history we put our national air defense assets together and exercise live firing tasks based on common command and control. And this is not a test, it is a real declaration of integrated air defense," Sebesta said.

The U.S. Soldiers are providing for the first time a shared air picture of potential threats to four other countries' weapon systems to create an enhanced view that cooperation like this allows.

The planning for this exercise began over a year ago on the heels of the successful air surveillance interoperability exercise, Master Harmony. Only the Czech Republic and Slovakia participated in Master Harmony but it paved the way for more nations to participate in Tobruq Legacy 15.

"We're honored to be here to participate in Tobruq Legacy 2015, which will help us to continue our Multi-National Ground-Based Air Defense partnership, allowing us to continue our interoperability testing and to strengthen the NATO alliance. We also are glad to be back in the Czech Republic as they are good friends, great partners and wonderful hosts," said Lt. Col. William Cater, Officer in Charge of the U.S. contingent.

During the exercise the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Lithuania will conduct day and night missile defense live firing utilizing the U.S. teams' SENTINEL radar to queue their weapons systems over a shared communications link.

Related Links:

U.S. Army Europe

Czech site in English

History of Siege of Tobruq

10th AAMDC Official Facebook