HOHENFELS, Germany -- Black Hawks land in an aerial assault. Infantrymen pour out of the choppers to execute their mission to breach and secure an enemy encampment. With the rotary blades still violently whirling behind them, the Soldiers cascade up the nearby hillside. They bound for cover until they reach the ridgeline, where they are met with incoming fire. Shells scatter across the ground as the confrontation ensues. The adversaries are overcome and the platoon moves forward to the objective - a small, guarded enemy camp. Upon arrival, the infantrymen breach the objective and begin to secure the buildings. With wounded Soldiers among their ranks, they call for an urgent medevac, later loading the casualties into the aircraft.
This was the training mission of the Soldiers of B Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade at the Hohenfels Training Area for Saber Junction 16, April 8, 2016. The exercise is the U.S. Army Europe's 173rd Airborne Brigade's combat training event to certify their mission to conduct Unified Land Operations. The training is executed in a multinational environment to promote interoperability with the nearly 5,000 participants from 16 NATO and European partner nations.
"This is the laboratory for the Army's new operating concept," said Dr. James Derleth, Senior Interagency Training Advisor for Joint Multinational Readiness Center here. "It's a multifaceted environment and it's a dynamic environment. We have 28 countries in NATO alone, all with different weapons systems, different communications and different political systems, so you're forced to work with others. How to bring it all together effectively is a real challenge but it's a challenge that we'll face wherever we go in the world. So there's no other place in the Army, in my view, that trains for it like we do."
The training site, advanced gear, and multinational cooperation make this mission unique. Hohenfels is the only certifying training facility outside of the continental United States, which makes it a perfect place for overseas units like the 173rd Airborne Brigade out of Vicenza, Italy, to come and train.
"For these guys, where they're from in Vicenza, they don't really have the space to be able to do training like this," said Sfc. Michael Wall, an observer coach trainer for Saber Junction 16.
For the U.S. Soldiers coming from Italy, the Hohenfels Training Area is a larger playing field than their home base, yet it's smaller than comparable bases in the states.
"I think it's really unique that in such a small area we are doing so much in terms of air space deconfliction, rotary wing, fixed wing assets coming in, para-drops," said 1st Lt. Harrison Green, 2nd Flight Platoon Leader, C Company, 3-227 Assault Helicopter Battalion. "There's going to be a lot of movement on the battlefield, a lot of guys that are dismounted that are going to be requiring aviation."
The units training here have the opportunity to work side-by-side with other elements within the U.S. Army as well as working with multinationals. At the other Army certifying training facilities, such as the National Training Center in California, this isn't always the case.
"Half the units that we've trained here are multinational," said Derleth. " we did over 10,000 [multinationals] last year. That means our units have to work with the other units. That's really important because where are we going to be deployed today? Our national security strategy says work with our allies. Anywhere we go in the world today, its not going to just be the U.S., and somebody. So if you don't train or practice with those 'and somebodies' before you get there, how effective can you be?"
Through working with multinational militaries, the soldiers face problems they would in the real world and have the opportunity to learn how to solve these issues.
"Communication causes the most problems," said Wall. "Not just language barriers but radio too. Some countries are not able to use the frequencies that we use so we have to have liaisons with that unit so they can be able to communicate back and forth."
Because Hohenfels supports multinational militaries with various languages, equipment, and leadership, the challenges of the mission are vast. However, those same challenges will shape the training environment into one that will reinforce the interoperability of our Army, Allied forces, and partner nations.
"It definitely works to grow the relationships between those nations and those militaries," said Green. "We're all allies here and we're working together toward a common goal - that Strong Europe."
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