Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division have established the Mayor Cell at Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area, Poland in support of Exercise Anakonda 16.
The Mayor Cell was officially set-up May 12 and focuses on reception, staging and onward integration while also providing life support for all the Soldiers at Drawsko Pomorskie on a day-to-day basis.
Throughout the exercise the Mayor Cell expects to support more than 5,000 Soldiers from 9 countries, to include Soldiers from the U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. Army National Guard.
Sgt. 1st Class Wally McFadden, who works for the 3BSB support operations, said the Mayor Cell started off with seven personnel and few resources when they first arrived at Drawsko Pomorski, but they were still able to meet their mission.
"The main thing is to track the amount of Soldiers that arrive here and the equipment they bring," said McFadden.
The Mayor Cell mission helps the Soldiers understand the complexity of communicating across language barriers and interoperability with NATO allies and partners.
"The greatest challenge of running a mayor cell of this magnitude is the amount of coordination and synchronization across multiple U.S. echelon units, as well as our host nation, working with the Polish garrison and Polish range control here," said Maj. Oliver Stolley, the 3BSB Executive Officer.
Stolley said there are also several challenges in doing sustainment in Poland, but those challenges provide the opportunity to develop junior leaders by understanding the benefit of having a plan, and being flexible to modify the plan at first contact.
Stolley said the relationship they have built with the Polish garrison unit has been key in their initial success in setting up the Mayor Cell and for setting conditions for the remainder of the exercise.
"I think we've integrated very well with the Polish garrison and have gotten to learn how they operate and their support functions," said Stolley. "We are partnering very well with them."
Anakonda 16 is a Polish-led exercise taking place in Poland June 7-17. The exercise will include over 25,000 participants more than 20 nations, supporting assurance and deterrence measures by demonstrating allied defense capabilities to deploy, mass and sustain combat power.
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