U.S., Romanian paratroopers complete allied Exercise Rubicon

By Sgt. AM LaVey, 173rd Airborne BrigadeDecember 4, 2014

RPG training
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A Romanian 6th Special Forces Brigade soldier gives guidance to a paratrooper from Company C, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, on the operation of a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, prior to a combined-arms range, Nov... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Combined jump
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Paratroopers from the Romanian 6th Special Forces Brigade and the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade, move toward an aircraft as part of a combined airborne operation, Nov. 14, 2014, in Cincu, Romania as part of Exercise Rubicon. Rubicon is a bilater... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Prime Minister
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Capt. Teddy W. Borawski, commander of Company C, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, greets Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta prior to the first of several combined airborne operations in Cincu, Romania, Nov. 14, 2014, ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Combined Patrol
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Romanian 6th Special Forces Brigade Soldiers and paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, conduct a patrol together, Nov. 20, 2014, in Cincu, Romania, as part of Exercise Rubicon. Rubicon is a bilateral exercise designed to increase NATO interop... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

CINCU, Romania (Dec. 2, 2014) --American and Romanian paratroopers wrapped up the two-week-long combined training Exercise Rubicon here Nov. 23.

Rubicon was designed to increase NATO interoperability between the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade and Romanian Army's 6th Special Operations Brigade, while also increasing mutual training opportunities.

"Anytime you get to shoot, move and communicate with someone new, you are able to learn from, and form a bond with them," said 1st Lt. Matthew Van Arsdall, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne's operations officer for the exercise. "The more time you can spend with each other, the better you're going to work together. You're going to learn their customs and culture, and the way they do things."

While the brigade recently completed two other exercises with Romanian forces, this was the first time for the paratroopers of 1st Battalion, to train with the 6th Special Operations Brigade.

The exercise began with a combined airborne operation, with both forces aboard Romanian aircraft but using the American T-11 parachute system. The second phase was combined marksmanship training, where the two forces trained on each other's weapons systems.

"This is great training," said Pfc. Garret Matthews, an infantryman with Company C, 1st Battalion. "We don't get to come out and shoot all sorts of different weapons very often. The Romanian soldiers are absolute professionals, very proficient in what they do and it's interesting to see how they use their equipment. Both sides are getting a lot of out it."

The third phase incorporated the previous training into a combined field training exercise.

"This exercise is the first step in developing the relationship between our two units," said Romanian Army Col. Doru Tocila, the exercise director. "Starting with baby steps, we began with weapons ranges and then built up to small unit tactics and parachute operations, which led up to a combined field training exercise."

Training in the hills and valleys of Romania provided the American paratroopers a new environment to train in, different from their home station in Italy and the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command, in Germany.

"At any point in time, the 173rd Airborne can be called up to go anywhere in the world in 18 hours," said Matthews. "So if we do get called up, we will be better prepared to adapt to the environment and any situation."

The Romanians concurred with the importance of the combined training.

"This is our job, to be prepared to act together with our allies. No one knows what will happen in the future, but we will be ready," said Romanian Army Col. Dan-Micea Suta, commander, 6th Special Operations Bde.

The exercise was part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, an increase in the frequency of allied exercises to demonstrate U.S. commitment to European collective defense.

"We are part of the NATO alliance and I think sometimes we don't know what that means," said Capt. Teddy W. Borawski III, commander, Company C, 1st Battalion. "Our nations can form an alliance, but can we create results? That's the biggest thing that we have been working on here these last few weeks. We came together and showed that we can provide those results. In future operations, I am confident that we will be successful -- this alliance works."

The two units are planning for additional training together next year, both in Italy and Romania.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy, is the U.S. Army's Contingency Response Force in Europe, and is capable of providing a full spectrum of operations across the U.S. European, Africa and Central Command areas of responsibility.

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