U.S. Army Sgt. Samuel Santiago, a native of Brooklyn, NY, a Fire Support Specialist attached to Company C, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, plots grid coordinates for targets with an allied Sol...
U.S. Army Spc. Egbert Sandoval, a native of Leesburg, VA, a Fire Support Specialist, Company B, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, finds coordinates during Exercise Flaming Thunder at Pabrade, Li...
U.S. Army Fire Support Specialists assigned to Company C, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, prepare to call for fire during Exercise Flaming Thunder at Pabrade, Lithuania August 4, 2016. Flaming...
A German Soldier plots grid coordinates for targets during Exercise Flaming Thunder at Pabrade, Lithuania August 4, 2016. Flaming Thunder is a two-week long multinational fire coordination exercise and combined arms live fire to enhance interoperabil...
U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, plot grid coordinates for targets with allied Soldiers during Exercise Flaming Thunder at Pabrade, Lithuania August 4, 2016. Flam...
A U. S. Army artillery shell detonates on target during Exercise Flaming Thunder at Pabrade, Lithuania August 4, 2016. Flaming Thunder is a two-week long multinational fire coordination exercise and combined arms live fire to enhance interoperability...
(PABRADE, LITHUANIA) - Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, called for fire support during Exercise Flaming Thunder, August 4, 2016, at Pabrade, Lithuania.
Flaming Thunder is a two-week long multinational fire coordination exercise and combined arms live fire to enhance interoperability among NATO fire support units, and to train and conduct joint fire support with the integration of maneuver elements, close air support and close combat attack.
"This type of training helps to enable the Atlantic Resolve operational environment by increasing interoperable communications," said Maj. Chad Fitgerland, the Fires Chief for the 4th Infantry Division's Mission Control Element in Baumholdier, Germany, "With several Atlantic Resolve allies seeking to modernize their artillery systems, these types of exercises serve as excellent opportunities to increase fires connectivity across the U.S. Army European area of operations."
Some of the goals for this year's exercise include the training of artillery battery operations that focus on the gun line, fire direction center, and forward observers.
Soldiers from C Co., 3rd Bn., 69th Arm. Rgmt., provided fire support officers and specialists to help achieve these goals. Fire support specialists, commonly referred to as FiSTers, are artillerymen who provide grid coordinates for targets and help guide shells to their objective.
The U.S., Lithuanian and German FiSTers and FSOs took turns calling for fire support. They would observe rounds' impact locations and provide corrections until the target was destroyed.
"It is good to build allies with the nations of NATO," said U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Joseph Hurst, a fire support officer, assigned to C Co., "We can also see how they conduct similar training that we do to see if we are all on the same page, and to train together and better our friendship."
The Soldiers from 3rd Bn., 69th Arm. Rgmt., involved in the exercise, are training with their Baltic allies in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, a U.S. lead effort being conducted in Eastern Europe to demonstrate U.S. commitment to the collective security of NATO and dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region.
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U.S. Army Europe is uniquely positioned in its 51 country area of responsibility to advance American strategic interests in Europe and Eurasia. The relationships we build during more than 1,000 theater security cooperation events in more than 40 countries each year lead directly to support for multinational contingency operations around the world, strengthen regional partnerships and enhance global security.
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