(PABRADE, LITHUANIA) --Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division took part in a variety of competitions with their NATO partners during Exercise Flaming Thunder, August 7, 2016 at Pabrade, Lithuania.
Flaming Thunder is a two-week long multinational fire coordination exercise and combined arms live fire to enhance interoperability among NATO fire support units, and to train and conduct joint fire support with the integration of maneuver elements, close air support and close combat attack.
Taking a break from training, Soldiers from the U.S., Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia, Portugal, and Germany took part in activities there that included a relay race, soccer and a tug of war.
"I think that in the future, we should continue doing these training exercises and events to build camaraderie with our fellow NATO nations," said Spc. Kyler Lott, a native of Chicago, IL, competitor and Soldier assigned to Battery C, 1st Bn., 41st FA Rgmt.
During the first part of the relay race event of the competition Soldiers carried a crate to a half way point and back. The following pair of Soldiers had to find five dummy grenades in the dirt while one Soldier was blindfolded with the other guiding them vocally. The last pair needed to walk a distance of 25 meters while balancing a dummy grenade on a board then throw the grenade into a designated target area.
"Everybody seems to be having a great time," said Pfc. Alexander Green, a native of Walker, LA, attendee and Soldier assigned to Battery C, 1st Bn., 41st FA Rgmt. He was clearly having a good time as he said this even though the Latvian team had just won the tug of war.
"It is nice not to have to train every day," Green said, "to take a break and have a friendly competition, to get to know Soldiers from many different nations, to make new international friends, to bring the overall morale up, and to just have fun. I definitely feel we should have these friendly competitions more often during exercises."
The Soldiers from 1st Bn., 41st FA Rgmt. are training with their Baltic allies in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, a U.S. lead effort being conducted in Eastern Europe to demonstrate U.S. commitment to the collective security of NATO and dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region.
"Our presence here in Europe is imperative in increasing interoperability with our NATO allies," said 1st Lt. John Long, assigned to Battery C, 1st Bn., 41st FA Rgmt. "Throughout Operation Atlantic Resolve, 3rd Infantry Division has deployed to over 6 nations to train and build relationships to ensure readiness in Europe and around the globe."
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U.S. Army Europe is uniquely positioned in its 51 country area of responsibility to advance American strategic interests in Europe and Eurasia. The relationships we build during more than 1,000 theater security cooperation events in more than 40 countries each year lead directly to support for multinational contingency operations around the world, strengthen regional partnerships and enhance global security.
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