HOHENFELS, Germany -- Members of the Royal Danish Royal Army moved to a new location after receiving indirect fire in one of the furthest corners of what is referred to as "the box" during a training exercise here at Joint Multinational Readiness Center Nov. 4.
Denmark is one of 18 countries participating in Combined Resolve III, an exercise with more than 4,000 participants involved in multinational training. The Danish army represent the second largest contingent here behind the American presence, and so far they have had the opportunity to work with teams from both the U.S. and Romania.
After escaping indirect fire, Danish soldiers kept watch over the perimeter in tanks and hasty fighting positions. Just a few feet away, all ranks helped pitch a tent for the Tactical Operations Center, or TOC, and the generators and satellite that support it.
The satellite they use is new to the Danish Signal Team called the Dawson, but the team -- despite challenges setting up the system in a foreign country -- got the TOC up and running.
"Right now, the only thing we know is they need to be hooked up to the sunlight. We hook up and we wait," said Lance Cpl. David Hansen of the Danish Signal Team. "And when they tell us we need to move, we pack it all down and move away
Ensuring the TOC is operational as soon as possible is imperative to contact with the other nations. It is also critical to maintain communications with the headquarters in the rear element where the main battalion aide station is located.
Since participating in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Danish military has made recent efforts to take its organization to a new level of operation, focusing on the international war on terror, domestic security and United Nations and NATO peacekeeping missions.
Training with other nations has proved fruitful, even just for learning who to talk to when requesting support, said Capt. Michael Vester, a Danish army engineer.
"Denmark is a small country, so we will never deploy alone," Vester said. "We'll always deploy alongside the U.S. or the United Kingdom, so we need to learn how to actually link up and get coms and all this so it will be easier for us when we actually deploy to a mission."
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