HOHENFELS, Germany (February 19, 2009) - The notorious "Box" at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Hohenfels was transformed into downtown Kosovo recently as 1st Brigade 10th Motorized Battalion (10th MOTB), of the Slovenian Armed Forces prepares for its next deployment in support of Task Force Sokol.
The mission of 1st Brigade during Task Force Sokol will be to conduct stability operations in the municipality of Klina and part of thew municipality of Pec. In addition the Slovenians will conduct a variety of humanitarian missions for the people of Kosovo.
"The exercise was conducted in two phases," said Maj. Franc Kalic the 1st Brigade commander. " The first being a live-fire exercise at the Joint Multinational Training Command's Grafenwoehr Training Area (GTA)."
According to Kalic the main goal of the live-fire exercise was to test the units national combat readiness. This readiness is imperative for the unit as a NATO rapid deployment team. Kalic said that GTA was perfect for their training operation.
"The infrastructure at GTA made it an ideal location," he said. "JMTC has so many ranges that it enabled us to conduct a battalion-size operation."
Part two of the exercise was conducted at JMRC, where the brigade was put through its passes during a scenario-driven field exercise. During this phase each unit was taught how to react to possible crisis situation which may occur while they are deployed. Observer/Controllers supervised and mentored units throughout the missions.
"The OCs gave our key leaders great tools to complete their mission," Kalic said. "All in all the Joint Multinational Training Command was the best place for this exercise."
Kalic described both GTA and JMRC as having the best conditions in Europe for training. Cooperation between JMTC and the unit was ideal and communication occurred on a daily basis.
More than 770 Slovenian Soldiers aided in training their fellow Soldiers as civilians on the battlefield.
"We had an NBC platoon, engineers and an antiaircraft platoon with us," Kalic explained. "Since they weren't involved in the actual missions we used them as COBs to help train Soldiers which provided them a firsthand experience in working within the multinational environment."
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