HOHENFELS, Germany: A combined team of paratroopers from the United States and Canada successfully seized the Hohenburg Drop Zone at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) on 13 August 2015.
It would be difficult to estimate the number of airborne operations that have been canceled due to weather or other factors since soldiers first began jumping out of aircraft. However, despite the long odds, given that the date for the operation was set almost nine months ago, 130 paratroopers from the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Canadian Royal 22nd Regiment and U.S. Marine Corps 3rd ANGLICO Marines successfully loaded aircraft in Nurnberg, Germany, flew to Hohenfels, jumped into the training area and established a battalion sized element defense force.
As part of this operation, Soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, of the 173rd Airborne Brigade conducted a heavy drop of a M777A2 Howitzer, a type of cannon, onto the same drop zone several hours prior to paratrooper insertion. This heavy drop was only the second time that a Brigade Combat Team in the Army Artillery Corp has dropped the howitzer during a live training operation. The first drop was also conducted by the 173rd Airborne earlier this past July.
The reason for dropping the Howitzer went beyond simply proving it could be safely done. 2nd Lt. Ellen Loran of 4th Bn., 319th AFAR explained prior to jumping, "when we jump in…we'll be able to fire for them when they need support" she continues "they would call us and we would be able to provide that (fire support) right there where we land after dropping from the plane".
The bulk of the Soldiers jumping were from the 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, whose mission was to secure the drop zone for a squadron level defense. As part of the training exercise, other Soldiers from the brigade and Canadian forces were pre-positioned on the drop zone to augment the squadron as it built combat power in the assembly area.
As with all training at JMRC, this jump was multinational by design. Besides providing Canadian paratroopers the opportunity to jump into a foreign drop zone in Germany alongside American personnel, the training allows all participants to practice multinational interoperability.
From Loran's perspective, "as we move forward, more and more of our engagements are going to be multinational." Training opportunities like Allied Spirit II allow the Allies to "focus on what our goals are and get those all on the same page so that we can be part of a coalition force" she concluded.
Accompanying the jumpers from pre-jump all the way to the actual jump was a group of airborne qualified Observer Coach Trainers from JMRC who also jumped into the training area. According to SFC Antonio Alvarado, "I'm helping Charlie Battery, 4th of the 319th by observing their procedures during the pre-combat inspections, pre-combat checks all the way up to the airborne operation. And I'm giving them guidance on what is working for them and what is not working for them."
Alvarado and other team member's presence from the Vampire Observer Coach Trainer Team is an essential part in the training process for all units training at JMRC due to the feedback and guidance O/C's are able to provide from the training.
While the jump on Thursday was the first in several years at JMRC, it's only the beginning. On August 26th, another combined operation of paratroopers form Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States will conduct an even larger Joint Forcible Entry into the Hohenburg DZ as part of Exercise Swift Response.
Assuredly, many more lessons about interoperability and basic tactics will be learned during Swift Response and all exercises here in Hohenfels.
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