JOHVI, Estonia - In the rolling plains and scattered farmhouses of the Estonian countryside, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe meets with Team Estonia May 12, at the conclusion of Operation Siil near Johvi, Estonia.
"Operation Siil is the Estonian National Defense exercise," said the Quincy, Florida native. "It's an amazing exercise in which they mobilized about 10,000 reservists to join the professional force and practice how they would defend the country of Estonia."
Operation Siil or Hedgehog is part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which is an ongoing training mission in order to build relationships, trust, and interoperability between the participating nations.
"It shows each nation doing its own part for its home defense," Hodges said. "It also provides an opportunity for the U.S. to practice deployment and get familiarity with tanks in an area where we haven't been as much before."
For two and a half days, Team Estonia, comprised of Anvil Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, a tank platoon with 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, of Fort Stewart, Georgia, along with companies with the Estonian Defense Force and United Kingdom worked together as opposition forces as the three EDF Brigades planned and devised their defense. All in an environment very new to U.S. troops.
"It's kind of unique because we are not in a training area," said Staff Sgt. Thomas Lee Cheek, reconnaissance supervisor with Anvil Troop. "We are out here on the economy maneuvering military vehicles and tanks."
Putting the U.S. Army's training to use, "we had a thorough plan, and the execution went pretty good," said the Raleigh, North Carolina native.
Although the training event started off a little slow, the OPFOR soon found out that the EDF had a few tricks up their sleeve.
"The Estonians are very, very good at camouflage and they use the terrain to their advantage," said Cpt. Timothy Keilty, commander of Anvil Troop.
In addition to excelling at concealment, "their infantry and anti-tank tactics are very efficient and we learned to keep back in this type of environment," said Cheek. "We had to use our mobility and put our firepower and optics forward in order to mitigate the threat."
Although it was a good opportunity for U.S. paratroopers and tankers to work together, Hodges hopes and expects Soldiers will take home a good memory of the Estonian Defense Force, the support of the Estonian population, and the opportunity for young leaders to gain experience.
Keitly said he felt just that.
"It's a privilege to take part in an operation this large for a great country like Estonia," he said. "I'm honored to be the commander for the U.S. forces in Estonia."
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