PABRADE TRAINING AREA, Lithuania -- L Troop, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment recently capped off months of training in Lithuania by conducting a combined arms live-fire exercise March 28 -- April 1, 2016 at Pabrade Training Area.
The CALFEX allowed 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment leadership the opportunity to evaluate L Troop's ability to conduct a company-level combat operation. The CALFEX also allowed U.S. and Lithuanian Land Force Soldiers the chance to train together, as members of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Butigeidis Dragoon Battalion worked alongside L Troop platoons.
Throughout their time in Lithuania as U.S. Army Europe's regionally allocated force, L Troop followed the crawl-walk-run philosophy by conducting individual, team, squad, and platoon-level training. During the CALFEX exercise all of L Troop's combat elements were involved at the same time.
Leading the way for L Troop was its executive officer, 1st Lt. Ethan Klausner, who was impressed with the performance of his Soldiers.
"The performance of our Soldiers during the CALFEX exceeded my expectations," said Klausner. "Normally this is an event planned at the brigade-level, but were able to plan and execute effectively at the troop/company level."
Klausner mentioned one the highlights of the training was working with the Lithuanian Land Forces. He received briefings from the Lithuanian's tactical operation center, which allowed him to get insight on their plans for combat operations during the CALFEX.
"Working with the Lithuanians was a very good experience, especially since most of them speak better English than me," he said jokingly. "They were extremely professional at all times," Klausner said.
According to L Troop's senior enlisted leader, 1st Sgt. Sonny Quintanilla, the train-up to the CALFEX was an intense, but very rewarding experience. He said it was great watching the Soldiers put together all of the knowledge learned from the beginning of training into the CALFEX.
"Seeing the growth was amazing," said Quintanilla. "It's was like watching your children grow up from not being able to do anything on their own, to being completely independent."
Quintanilla said that being able to train in Lithuania was a big factor in his Soldiers' success during their rotation. According to Quintanilla, training away from their home-station allowed Soldiers to focus on their specific goals and objectives.
"There's nothing wrong with training at home station, but here we were able to focus solely on what we needed to do," he said. "No distractions or anything. As a result, we were very successful."
Overall, Klausner said he was impressed by what L Troop was able to accomplish during the CALFEX and the feedback received from Soldiers and fellow leaders showed that they also enjoyed the experience.
"As far as CALFEXs go, many of our Soldiers have said that this was one of the best that they've participated in," he said.
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