DRAWSKO POMORSKIE, Poland---The tranquil sounds of birds chirping and the blue sky of an early Polish morning are suddenly interrupted as a thick cloud of brown dust and the distant roar of loud engines slowly come into view. One-by-one, massive tanks make their way to the rallying point for a day of heavy metal combat training.
This is the scene being played out at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area as tank crews from the American and Danish armies met for a force-on-force exercise June 11, 2015.
Working as the opposing force, the U.S. and Danish soldiers met to plan the infiltration and engagement of fellow members of their armies during Saber Strike 15.
Saber Strike is a long-standing U.S. Army Europe-led cooperative training exercise. This year's exercise takes place across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, and is designed to improve joint operational capability in a range of missions as well as preparing the participating nations and units to support multinational contingency operations. There are more than 6,000 participants from 13 different nations.
By working together as opposing forces, this training has many benefits, as it is designed to test their fellow Soldiers' ability to work together to defeat an enemy, according to 1st Lt. Patrick Benevento, a tank platoon leader assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
In true fashion of an operating army, the tank crews and their dismounted allies used the tanks to create a huge cloud of dust, hoping to deprive the defenders of their real intentions. Then they used the heavily wooded terrain to conceal their approach before engaging the defenders in a simulated tank battle.
"The real purpose of having a competent and adaptive opposing force element is so that we can increase the realism in any training environment," said Benevento. "Both sides get training designed primarily for the attacked force, because they're fighting an adaptive enemy that really tests their skills."
Benevento said having the Danish soldiers with them allows them to train in ways they normally couldn't when training with other U.S. forces.
"Coming from different military traditions brings a lot of new ideas that we may not have, so during every operation, we integrate those to develop our skill-sets and increase our lethality against potential adversaries," said Benevento.
According to Heine Gamskjaer, commander of the 3rd Tank Company, Dragoon Regiment, 1st Armored Battalion, 1st Danish Tank Squadron, the U.S. Soldiers aren't the only ones benefitting from this training, as their Danish counterparts are also learning a great deal from their ally.
"It's very important because we've been in Afghanistan and Iraq together, and we're probably going to
do further things in the future," said Gamskjaer. "It's nice to have these combined exercises just to keep track of what the terms are and how we're going to do it together in order to stay a step ahead if things should happen again."
Gamskjaer said being able to communicate effectively with the U.S. forces is critical when working together, as knowing the terminology used by the allies creates better cohesion.
"We know how the Americans are going to work, and we know what the terms they're using mean," said Gamskjaer. "When we all get out there, we are all combined, just one unit, instead of just two units working together."
1st Lt. Andrew LeVallie, the executive officer of Headquarters and Headquarters Company and opposition force commander, said there are many obstacles in working with such a mixed group, but the rewards outweigh the costs.
"I would say the biggest challenge is utilizing the tactics that we and the Danes have, and trying to mix them together to have a NATO force that can actually simultaneously destroy the enemy, maneuver, shoot and communicate, all within that platoon," said LeVallie. "The biggest benefit is showing the allied soldiers we've worked with that this can happen."
Levallie went on to say the lessons learned in exercises like this will have far reaching benefits for all involved.
"This can positively happen and will work," said LeVallie. "That's what we're proving, no matter what, our coalition will come together and we will succeed."
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