CINCU TRAINING AREA, Romania- Binoculars honed in to the bombs exploding in the distance, yet the observers were struck with awe rather than fear at the spectacular sights before them. The NATO allies joined together as they watched their land forces collaborate competently as a team.
Distinguished visitors from the United States and Romania, including Mircea Dusa, the Minister of National Defense in Romania, Lt. Gen. Nicolae Ciuca, the Chief of General Staff for the Romanian Unified Land Forces, Brig. Gen. Tudorica Petrache, Commander of 2nd Mountain Brigade, Romanian Army, and a native of Tangoviste, Romania, and Dean Thompson, Charge d'Affaires at the Embassy of the United States in Bucharest, Romania, observed a live fire joint training exercise conducted by soldiers from 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, as they joined their Romanian, British, and Canadian military counterparts at Cincu Training Area, Romania, May 26.
Four nations contributed personnel, equipment, and experience to ensure the live fire exercise demonstrated the interoperability between the countries during the exercise, as part of Sarmis 15. Sarmis 15 is a multinational training exercise, part of the series of joint exercises taking place in Romania as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
"The Romanian Unified Land Force contributed their MiG-29 jet fighter aircraft and their F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft, and their Howitzers, and the American Air Force supplied their A-10 Thunderbolt jet aircraft so multiple assets could be used for close air support during the exercise," said Sgt. 1st Class Christopher L. Hartzell, with 2/2 CR, and a native of Jamestown, N.Y.
As mortars fired from Stryker vehicles and 500-pound bombs dropped from aircraft, the success of the exercise is the result in the teamwork of the NATO allies from around the world. This kind of training is often discussed by the distinguished visitors who were in attendance, but rarely seen.
"This is something new to see, I've never seen anything like this," said Vlad Oprea, the Mayor of Sinaia, Romania. "The people from my city, including myself, enjoy seeing the military presence of the allies involved in Operation Atlantic Resolve so it's great to see the allies working together to this extent."
The exercise allowed the distinguished visitors to see how the weeks of hard work and dedication from their soldiers during Sarmis 15 has culminated in a gaining of communication and growth as the assets and knowledge from the four forces join as one.
"This joint training strengthens our alliance with our allies and allows us to move forward in reassuring the citizens of Europe in our ability to keep them safe," said Hartzell. "As we work to improve our abilities and learn from one another we grow stronger as a group and become more effective on the battlefield, as displayed today."
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