PANEVEZYS, LITHUANIA - United States Army Paratroopers and Lithuanian Land Forces soldiers came together here today, for bilateral training in tactical control points, and how each nation performs those tasks.
The U.S. Army and LLF Soldiers had operated independently from one another until the early 1990s when Lithuania shrugged off Russian occupancy and joined the United Nations as a free country.
Currently, both the U.S. Army and the LLF train together learning each other's tactical and technical procedures in an effort to strengthen bonds of friendship and enhance security in the region.
Soldiers assigned to Dog Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade stationed in Vicenza, Italy and deployed to Lithuania, and LLF Soldiers assigned to the King Mindaugas Hussar Battalion, stationed in Panevezys, ran through two very different TCP mock engagements: both designed to show the varying ways each nation performs the same task.
In the morning half of the day's training, Sgt. Juan Marte, a section leader for the 173rd Airborne Brigade was a passenger in the notional, oppositional force Soldiers car that was supposed to try and make it through a mock TCP designed and operated by the LLF Soldiers.
"Today we had the opportunity of conducting bilateral training with our Lithuanian allies," Marte, a native of Salem, Mass. said. "Throughout the morning the Lithuanians showed us how they conduct their tactical check points. There is a language barrier to overcome, but the more we train together, the smaller that hurdle becomes. This training is crucial because it enhances our interoperability and mission success for any future operations that may come. "
After a break for lunch, it was time for the 173rd Airborne Brigade to run the TCP, and while the idea of stopping a suspicious vehicle for possible search is universally the same for most nations, the tactics and operational measures used by those same nations can be drastically different when put into action. LLF Pvt. Augustas Karpavicius, a gunners' assistant in the Hussar Battalion watched as the American unit operated in a very different fashion from the LLF.
"Today, both the Americans and Lithuanian forces showed each other how they operate checkpoints," said Karpavicius, a native of Siauliai, Lithuania. "We learned from each other, and working together makes our partnership strong."
Despite difference in tactics, both the 173rd Airborne Brigade and Hussar Battalion learned that perhaps they are not so dissimilar from one another. Each unit learned something new they might not have had the chance to know had they not trained together.
The Soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade are in Europe as part of Atlantic Resolve, a demonstration of continued U.S. commitment to the collective security of NATO and to enduring peace and stability in the region. U.S. Army Europe is leading Atlantic Resolve enhanced land force multinational training and security cooperation activities taking place across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Bulgaria to ensure multinational interoperability, strengthen relationships among allied militaries, contribute to regional stability and demonstrate U.S. commitment to NATO.
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