Michigan National Guard Participates in Allied Spirit IV

By Sgt. 1st Class Helen Miller, Michigan Army National GuardJanuary 21, 2016

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1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Spc. Gage Westhouse, Charlie Battery, 1-119th Field Artillery, Michigan Army National Guard, and Spc. Timothy Bradburn, Bravo Battery, 1-119th Field Artillery, work as part of NATO Rapid Deployment Corps-Hohenfels (NRDC-H), a composite team of Michig... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Jacob Showerman, Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Boyd, and Sgt. Matthew Rentz, all with the Michigan Army National Guard, work as part of NATO Rapid Deployment Corps-Hohenfels (NRDC-H), a composite team of Michigan National Guard Soldiers.

During this ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)
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NATO Rapid Deployment Corps-Hohenfels
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Col. Norman Fabian, chief of staff for the NATO Rapid Deployment Corps-Hohenfels (NRDC-H), which is a composite team of Michigan National Guard Soldiers and National Armed Forces representatives from the Latvian Army, talks with his team during about... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A composite team of Michigan National Guard Soldiers and National Armed Forces representatives from the Latvian Army, take a group photo during Exercise Allied Spirit IV at 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command's Hohenfels Training Area, Germ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

HOHENFELS, Germany (Jan. 20, 2016) -- "Weekend Warriors" is not a term that can be used anymore to describe the Michigan Army National Guard. Some Soldiers of the Michigan National Guard are far from home.

They aren't enduring the hardships of a foreign war nor are they on a traditional deployment, but they're not where you would expect to find these so-called "Weekend Warriors."

NATO Rapid Deployment Corps-Hohenfels (NRDC-H) -- a composite team of Michigan Army National Guard Soldiers, Latvian National Armed Forces and the 350th Psychological Operations Company from Ohio -- is taking part in the NATO interoperability exercise Allied Spirit IV, Jan. 15-Feb. 5, at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany.

The unit's mission is to serve as the high command and control, or HICON, for a multinational brigade of NATO allies and partners consisting of more than 2,200 participants from six NATO nations. Allied Spirit IV showcases the National Guard's role in boosting land force capabilities through state and country partnership programs and leveraging overseas deployment training rotations.

With the NRDC-H also being made up of Latvian National Armed Forces, the exercise provides the Michigan Army National Guard an opportunity to train with members of representatives from their state partnership program.

The Michigan National Guard has been in a state partnership with Latvia for 23 years.

"This exercise gives us real world experience working with other nations, affording the senior leaders the opportunity to exercise their experience in troop leading and warfighting," said Michigan Army National Guard Col. Norman Fabian, Chief of Staff for the NRDC-H. "It also fosters cooperation and confidence in our Latvian counterparts, and getting to know each other's skills and diversities. We are learning from each other now, so that our units can link with our partners in NATO missions where ever we send them around the globe."

Exercise Allied Spirit IV is a U.S. Army Europe-directed, 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command-conducted multinational exercise focused on multinational, unified land operations, and promoting both the interoperability and integration of multinational partners. The participating U.S. units include the 2nd Cavalry Regiment; 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne); 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment; 3rd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment; 1st Air Cav. Div. and the Michigan Army National Guard. It also includes units from the NATO nations of Canada, Germany, Italy, Latvia and Slovenia.

"I worked with our Latvian partners 23 years ago when the partnership started, and I feel that we have come leaps and bounds with our relationships," said Lt. Col. Timothy Densham, G3 officer for NRDC-H. "It is great to work with them again. We understand each other better, we work together better, and we are developing a relationship that has been years in development, we trust each other and we learn from each other. There really aren't any language barriers and the representatives the Latvian Army sends are very professional and easy to work with."

This NRDC-H is a mix of Michigan Army National Guard Soldiers from many different units. They have not trained or worked together as a unit before. Having the ability to jump into different roles when needed is one of the many skills that the Soldiers must display to be true professionals. These Soldiers will need to be at the top of their game when it comes to this training, as their ability to execute missions will be put to the test in the next few weeks.

"This is an important mission, with a hodge podge group from several Michigan units," said Col. Clark Barrett, commander of the NRDC-H, "but we will make it happen; failure is not an option. It is our hope to not only learn from our allies, but also demonstrate the United States overall support of the NATO mission."

Related Links:

Michigan Army National Guard

JMRC

Allied Spirit IV

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