HOHENFELS, Germany (Oct. 22, 2015) -- On the night of October 20, five German Leopard IIA5 tanks not so quietly rolled out of the Parsberg train station and made their way to the Hohenfels Training Center to take part in exercise Combined Resolve V.
While the task of offloading vehicles, personnel and equipment at the train station happens quite regularly at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, this arrival signaled a change that is coming to multinational and allied training in JMRC.
These five tanks make up Alpha Platoon from the German Army Combat Training Center in Letzlingen, Germany. The Combat Training Center is the German Army's equivalent of JMRC. This platoon is part of the permanently stationed opposition forces at the training center, and constitute a good portion of their heavy armored forces.
By agreeing to move these five tanks out of their home base, in exchange for a platoon of American Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, the U.S. and German Armies are further cementing a relationship that is still growing and improving even after 70 years.
During this exercise, combining 14 countries and 4,500 soldiers, the German tank platoon will exercise their acumen as enemy role players by integrating directly with JMRC's opposition forces, 1st Bn. 4th Inf. Regt. According to 1st Lt. Benjamin Kemp, an operations planner for the battalion, "they are being brought in to the planning process now" with the battalion, and "will operate hand-in-hand with two different companies. This platoon will be fully integrated on a tactical and personal basis" during the exercise.
For the first week of the traininng, the platoon will orient themselves to the training area, and will participate in Situational Tactical Exercises to help test the skills of the rotational training units in the exercise. This will also be the time for the German soldiers to fully learn the tactics and the standard operating procedures of their American comrades. Then, during the force-on-force phase of the operation, the fun begins.
"These tanks will replicate a T-80 tank, which is a higher-end Soviet Main Battle Tank. We plan to implement the most current tactics we have learned from current global events, and have the OPFOR replicate those during this fight" Kemp stated. "The German platoon will play a big role in this."
The challenges and opportunities are plentiful for Alpha platoon here in Hohenfels. "Our area is only flatland and we want to learn to operate in this kind of terrain" said Oberleutnant Tino Hamann, the platoon leader for the crew of 26 soldiers. "Our mission is to figure out how to combine our doctrine and the U.S. doctrine so that it will work. We are very excited to conduct good training while we are here."
Both the Alpha platoon and 1st Bn. 4th Inf. Regt. have a lot of work to do over the coming weeks. But this training allows a level of integration for these Allies at a level not usually practiced. Kemp continued "this is a perfect match for us, and they are going to be a phenomenal asset to this battalion. The only downside is, they are not bringing enough of them."
As training rotations continue to queue up at JMRC, it is clear that this type of exchange between the Allies is becoming more common, and with the right planning and execution, will simply become the way NATO Allies do business.
Social Sharing