Operation Atlantic Resolve expands to Hungary

By MAJ Randy ReadyNovember 2, 2015

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany (Oct. 21, 2015) -- U.S. Army Europe expands its Operation Atlantic Resolve land forces training mission into Hungary when 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division officially assumes the mission Oct. 26.

As the regionally allocated force for Europe, the soldiers of 1st Brigade assume the Atlantic Resolve land component mission in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

"We are looking forward to training alongside our allies with the Hungarian 25th Infantry Brigade," said Lt. Col. Christopher Mahaffey, the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment commander. "They are a well-trained unit with many of their soldiers having previously trained with U.S. forces. Our goal is to build on this partnership as we look to hone our skills and develop a lethal and interoperable force."

Since April 2014, the U.S. Army, led by Army Europe, has conducted continuous, enhanced multinational training and security cooperation activities with allies in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland due to increased regional tensions throughout Eastern Europe. The mission expanded to Bulgaria and Romania in March of this year.

"Expanding to Hungary shows the success of Operation Atlantic Resolve," said Mahaffey. "Dedicating Bradley Fighting Vehicles and a cavalry troop demonstrates our continued commitment to our NATO allies."

Unlike the continuous OAR training rotations in the Baltics and Poland, where incoming and outgoing units overlap, training rotations to Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria will not be continuous; they will occur periodically as units rotate into the area for major exercises.

Soldiers from 1st Brigade will be using the European Activity Set of equipment throughout their rotation in OAR. The EAS is a brigade-sized group of vehicles and equipment that is pre-positioned in Germany to outfit U.S. Army units when they rotate into theater for training. The EAS fleet includes vehicle systems and equipment that would outfit a U.S. Army Armored Brigade Combat Team, such as tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, artillery pieces, engineer equipment, and a standard array of tracked and wheeled support systems.

"A fleet of heavy cavalry equipment positioned forward allows the U.S. Army to save money, time and effort when rotating units to Europe," said Mahaffey. "Simply put, with the EAS fleet our troopers can get on planes in the U.S. and within days have a fully ready Cavalry Squadron anywhere in Europe."

As the regionally allocated force for Europe, 1st Brigade is responsible for serving as the European Rotational Force and the NATO Response Force. U.S. Army Europe continues to lead the Army in integration of RAF by leveraging multiple rotational units.