HAMMELBURG, Germany- Soldiers of the 709th Military Police Battalion and NATO Partners from the Macedonian Military Police Battalion conducted Operation Warrior Shock Mar. 18 through Mar. 25 in Hammelburg, Germany.
Operation Warrior Shock brought two companies of Military Police Soldiers, including one Macedonian MP Platoon, to the Hammelburg training area for a multi-stage exercise that culminated in platoon external evaluations.
Termed Warrior "Shock", for the no-notice deployment readiness exercise activities, the battalion alerted their MP companies across Germany, triggering them to initiate administrative, logistical and operational planning to deploy to the Hammelburg Training Area.
"They went through all their readiness actions to get out the door in 72 hours. Then, the units convoyed from five locations across Germany to Hammelburg where we received them and methodically evaluated their compliance with deployment readiness exercise requirements," explained Maj. Ranjini Danaraj, executive officer, 709 MP Bn.
The purpose of Warrior Shock was to enhance battalion readiness and interoperability with the Macedonian military police in preparation for Operation Anakonda 16.
"Working with the Macedonians for this training mission has been great because we are going to work with them this summer during Anakonda 16," said Lt. Col. Matthew Gragg, commander, 709 MP Bn. "It was good to work through our interoperability issues now, because it is going to be the same group, same platoons, and the same company commanders."
"It is important to improve our tactics, techniques, and procedures in case we deploy together in the future," said Maj. Kire Nikolovski, Macedonian MP deputy battalion commander.
To execute Operation Warrior Shock, the battalion received garrison-policing backfill from U.S. Army Reserve units, providing the required flexibility for forces to train collectively.
As a result of the garrison policing backfill, Soldiers were able to complete critical collective training including conducting attacks in urban areas, conducting raids during day and night operations, reacting to enemy contact, and establishing a defense.
This exercise not only tested the battalion's ability to deploy quickly, it also tested leaders on the battlefield and the battalion's ability to sustain itself through logistical tasks like refueling operations, field feeding, field maintenance, and medical operations.
The combined training resulted in enhanced teamwork between nations critical to the collective defense of Europe.
"We are partners, like brothers in arms," said Sgt. 1st Class Blagoj Gjorgiev, of the Macedonian MP Bn., "It is important for us to work with U.S. troops because of this partnership."
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