Hohenfels, Germany -- It's not the typical encounter you would imagine in the Hohenfels Training Area, as a Red Cross member speaks with a U.S. Soldier after the enemy swept through the small European town of Schwend during exercise Allied Spirit V, here, Oct. 12, 2016.
As 7th Army Training Command's Joint Multinational Readiness Center incorporated the Skolkan scenario during Combined Resolve VII and Allied Spirit V, it worked to create a realistic training environment. So more participants shifted from role players to actual real-world assets such as the Bayerisches Rotes Kreuz, or Bavarian Red Cross.
"The benefit is great for both sides," says Uwe Suchomel, the lead Bavarian Red Cross coordinator for education and training. "Our main goal is to brief Red Cross leadership, and to emphasize and educate the Geneva Convention (to the forces) on the ground."
As a 42-year veteran of the Bavarian Red Cross, Suchomel has seen and experienced more than his share of natural disasters and conflict. He also receives daily guidance from the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, headquartered in Berlin, to ensure the Red Cross is providing the most realistic training possible during the exercise.
Suchomel said the Bavarian Red Cross helps build realism and pressure for the service members participating in the exercise.
"It's been a learning experience for the training troops," he said.
Part of that realistic training experience is seen a few miles down the road from Schwend, where a simulated camp of nearly 5,000-displaced personnel lies on the outskirts of the populated town of Kittensee. The camp was strategically placed near a military supply route, making it more difficult for the training unit, and forcing communication between the Soldiers and the Bavarian Red Cross.
"It increases the realism," says Alec Metz, operational environment training specialist. "It allows us to get more robust coordination and cooperation with our (Bavarian) partner."
"This is what makes the difference; you got real people where they need to be," says David Dudas, an operations specialist for the town of Schwend. "These subject matter experts are driving the unit to do the right things, and they're educating the leadership and role players within the towns to say the right things."
"It's been a great, positive action, and we're lucky to have them here," said Metz.
The Bavarian Red Cross plans to participate in the training rotations here until 2018, and will continue giving feedback for future scenarios, refining partner interaction, and providing guidance to the rotational training unit.
For more information on the Bavarian Red Cross, visit bvniederbayern.brk.de/hohenfels.
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