CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo -- As U.S. Army Spc. John Burnett picks up his 9 mm pistol, looks at his target, and waits for the signal to begin.
Standing behind Burnett, a member of the Italian led Multinational Specialized Unit starts the timer and gives him the okay to move forward.
Burnett rushes forward, steadies his aim, and takes three shots. As his slide locks to the rear, signaling he is out of rounds, Burnett quickly drops the magazine and rushes to the next station where more ammo and a new enemy lies waiting.
Three more shots and Burnett repeats the process, navigating his way through a total of six shooting obstacles as the Italian Carabinieri officer shouts the movement instructions.
As Burnett, an explosive ordnance disposal team member deployed with the 763rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, expends his last rounds into the final target, his score from the lane is calculated and his face, intense in concentration, breaks with a smile.
"It was fun," said Burnett, afterward. "The training taught me that it is better to be accurate than fast. Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. It does not matter if you blow through that course in 30 seconds if you do not hit the targets, or worse, the civilians, then you fail."
For Burnett and the multinational Soldiers deployed to Kosovo in support of NATO's Kosovo Force, the obstacles and simulated enemies are part of an ongoing effort to build readiness and enable the alliance that brought Soldiers from the Italian Carabinieri and U.S. and German armed forces together at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, that day, July 1.
The aim of the multinational practical shooting exercise was to test the service member's ability to shoot, move and communicate under pressure and against the clock.
"The range conducted today was designed to take the basic marksmanship skills learned by our Soldiers and integrate those skills in a practical, realistic training environment," said U.S. Sgt. Maj. Christopher Clark, operations sergeant major and event coordinator. "We want to build on those basic skills by stressing ourselves and training as we would fight, should the need arise."
Clark said it is always better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
"As Soldiers and leaders we always train and plan for the worst possible case scenario," said Clark. "The time to find out how we should train is not after the gunfight is over."
Realistic joint training opportunities don't just prepare the Soldiers for the worst case scenario, they also play an important role in fostering interoperability between the multinational partners and allies to reach and achieve unity of effort in their day-to-day missions.
Additionally, the training helped Soldiers build trust in themselves as well as in their counterparts while building valuable relationships.
"The fact that multiple Soldiers from the battle group and MSU were involved in planning, resourcing, constructing and executing this training event is proof of how well we can operate with our multinational partners in KFOR," said Clark.
"We are building a ready and resilient force by increasing their level of proficiency in our assigned tasks through the challenges provided by this training event, while we continue to build and strengthen the multinational relationships with our partners in Kosovo."
Clark said relationships aren't the only things being strengthened and developed.
"We are also developing leaders as we put them in positions to make decisions consistent with the constraints of the environment and time limitations, while encouraging them to 'think outside of the box,'" he added.
Burnett was one of the many junior leaders to benefit from the training.
"Training alongside our multinational partners provides a unique experience as well as different ways of going about the same problem," he added. "Learning from and teaching other nations is a big part in how we can grow as humans as well as Soldiers and leaders."
Clark and Burnett both agreed the training was a success and hope to take advantage of future opportunities for joint-multinational training.
"I absolutely look forward to more training events such as this," said Clark. "We have already begun to discuss with the members of the MSU how to make the next training event even more challenging and beneficial for the Soldiers of the battle group and members of the MSU."
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