By Spc. John Onuoha, 6-8 Cav., 2IBCT UPAR
YAVORIV, Ukraine - Good partnership can be developed at any time or place, and Soldiers of 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division built their partnership with Ukrainians at the grenade range here on August 2.
Soldiers of 6-8 Cav are currently responsible for training Ukrainian ground forces as part of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine. JMTG-U is training Ukrainian land forces and building a team of Ukrainian cadre who will ultimately assume that responsibility. The training is designed to reinforce defensive skills of the Ukrainian Ground Forces in order to increase their capacity for self-defense.
The Mustangs taught Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 93rd Mechanized Brigade how to properly handle and employ a hand grenade. They started the training by familiarizing the Ukrainian Soldiers with grenades in order to build their confidence and help them understand the drills for safely handling them.
Spc. David Calkins, a scout with 6-8 Cav, said they spent the first part of the day training with practice rounds before throwing live grenades at the range. "The idea is to get them used to handling grenades, teach them various techniques and get them comfortable with it."
U.S. Soldiers demonstrated the different throwing positions when employing
grenades. Five different throwing positions were practiced during the training: standing, prone-to- standing, kneeling, prone-to- kneeling and alternate prone position. Throwing positions are used for uniformity and control, and to familiarize Soldiers with the proper manner of throwing grenades in combat if the situation allows a choice.
According to Calkins, The standing position is the most natural position and allows the Soldier to obtain the greatest possible throwing distance; prone-to- standing exposes more but allows a Soldier to throw a grenade for a greater distance; kneeling position is used when a Soldier has cover to protect him; prone-to-kneeling position allows the Soldier to throw the grenade farther than the alternate prone; alternate prone position reduces both distance and accuracy and is used only when an individual is pinned down by hostile fire and is unable to rise to engage his target.
Soldiers emphasized the importance of the exercise and also highlighted the advantage of learning new ways of handling grenades.
"The training is very important because the Ukrainians have been using a lot of old soviet tactics," Calkins said. "And everyone has a general consensus of what they are going to do, compared to if they use the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) force methods and unconventional methods. It will be a much more effective and deadly force moving forward."
A Ukrainian Soldier who asked that his name be withheld for security reasons expressed his gratitude for the 6-8 Cav Soldiers' persistent effort in training the Soldiers of 1-93rd.
"The way Americans are training the Ukrainian Soldiers is good," said the
Ukrainian Soldier. "I like their attitude toward the Soldiers. Their training
technique is very simple, understandable and straight to the point."
According to the Ukrainian Soldier, the grenade drill was very interesting and important for all of the Ukrainian Army. He said he is ready for more practice in training and looks forward to improving the force.
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