Joint Multinational Training on Target at JMRC

HOHENFELS, Germany " A cloud of white smoke drifts over a group of Polish Soldiers as their gruff voices bark out target information in halting and broken English to a U.S. Army pilot. The blades of a hovering helicopter dip and sway over the smoke, pushing a blanket of white across the Soldiers’ upturned faces.

This exercise was part of air-ground integration training held Friday, June 3, 2011, at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center. The Polish Soldiers are one of many Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams undergoing training here to become a mentor for Afghan National Army units.

Although some of the OMLTs that train at JMRC are not fluent in English, the Air Force Joint Tactical Air Controllers stationed here focus on teaching them the basics and explaining English terms that the pilots will understand.

Air Force Master Sgt. Jotham Baumer, a JTAC instructor from St. Augustine, Fl., with the Bullseye Team at JMRC, said it’s important to keep things simple when teaching multinational troops about the importance of JTACs and how to properly utilize them on the battlefield.

“We try to get everybody speaking English,” he said. “For example, when they’re in a situation downrange and they’re calling for a JTAC and he’s French, the French JTAC also speaks English.”

The JTAC training that the OMLTs receive during their time at JMRC consists of three stages. The first stage is the academics where they learn about Close Air Support and how it can be used as another means of firing on the enemy when they’re under attack. During the second stage, the OMLTs learn how CAS can support them through the use of training simulators. Finally, in the third stage, the OMLTs actually go out in the field where they learn how to identify the target in a real-life scenario and then pass that information on to a JTAC.

JTACs are essential to deployed units because they ensure pilots receive the correct coordinates for their target and help minimize friendly injuries, said Chris Northam, Director of Operations for the Bullseye Team at JMRC.

“We teach the OMLTs, ‘If you’re in trouble, here’s the appropriate things that you need to do to call and pass this information to a JTAC’,” said Northam. “The JTAC will talk to the airplane and through that chain of communication we’ll be able to get them an aircraft to help them, either by flying over in a show of force, making noise or possibly dropping ordinance.”

He said the Air Force JTAC instructors focus on the OMLTs being able to pass basic information, like where they are, what the situation is, and where they think the enemy is and then work on techniques for them to be able to tell him what they see, so it makes sense to a pilot.

The multinational troops that come through JMRC are exposed to a variety of scenarios that help them prepare for future deployments.

Warrant Officer Zbegniew Stepie", the Commander of Group Security for Polish OMLT Team 3, said the training they get during their time at JMRC is invaluable.

He stood with his hands behind his back, taking a moment to talk in a low voice with a fellow Soldier in Polish, as he tried to explain in English why the JTAC training is important to his team of Soldiers.

“This practice is the best for us because we have a better idea of what it’s like to communicate with the helicopters,” said Stepie". “We’re given a better idea of what it’ll be like on the battlefield.”

Despite the barriers created by the English language, Stepie" said understanding what a JTAC does is important because it allows them to destroy their targets very quickly.

Even though there are only four Air Force JTAC instructors stationed with JMRC, they make sure the OMLTs receive the best training possible during their time here.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Fields, an Observer-Controller/Trainer from Chino, Calif., with the Grizzly Team at JMRC, said he observes a night and day improvement when OMLTs go through the JTAC training.

“One of the biggest improvements I’ve noticed is that a lot of the Eastern European armies rely on the commander to do everything,” he said. “And while they’re here we try to train them to have many people capable of doing the same task.”

Fields said the training the OMLTs receive here help them become more proficient in the tasks they’re likely to encounter when they’re deployed downrange.