Greywolf Troopers train with international partners, build interoperability

By Staff Sgt. Leah KilpatrickMay 1, 2017

Greywolf Troopers train with international partners, build interoperability
1 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Pfc. Ryan Pope, a tanker assigned to Company B, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armord Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, mans the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon as his prepares to defend a farm somewhere in the Kuwaiti desert from an i... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Greywolf Troopers train with international partners, build interoperability
2 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A team of multinational special operations forces leads the opposing force away. Soldiers from Company B, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armord Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division played the opposing force for a joint training exercis... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Greywolf Troopers train with international partners, build interoperability
3 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Members of the Navy's Special Boat Team ride up to pick up the Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division and transport them to an oil tanker somewhere in the Persian Gulf. Soldiers f... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Greywolf Troopers train with international partners, build interoperability
4 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Leaders from the various multinational special operations elements participating in the Eagle Resolve exercise observe the hijacked oil tanker scenario from helicopters. Soldiers from Co. B, 3-8 CAV played the opposing force for a joint training exer... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Greywolf Troopers train with international partners, build interoperability
5 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Multinational special operations elements rappel onto an oil tanker somewhere in the Persian Gulf to take control of a hijacked oil tanker in a training scenario. Soldiers from Company B, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Comba... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Greywolf Troopers train with international partners, build interoperability
6 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Two Kuwaiti special operations troops search an oil tanker somewhere in the Persian Gulf for the opposing force in a vehicle board, search and seizure training operation. Soldiers from Company B, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Briga... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Greywolf Troopers train with international partners, build interoperability
7 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A member of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior boards an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf as part of a vehicle board, search and seizure training mission. Soldiers from Co. B, 3-8 CAV played the opposing force for a joint training exercise, called Eagle ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Greywolf Troopers train with international partners, build interoperability
8 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – An explosion simulating a bomb detonating signals the beginning of a scenario where special operations forces from the U.S., Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates take a Kuwaiti farm back from the opposing force. Soldiers from Compan... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - The Greywolf Brigade spent the last two weeks embracing international interoperability during their nine-month deployment to Kuwait.

Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. served as the opposing force during the training ex-ercise Eagle Resolve.

"Eagle Resolve is a joint training exercise with Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bah-rain, the United Arab Emirates and American forces," said Capt. David Hale, commander of Company B "Battle," 3-8 CAV. "Bravo Company is tasked to defend key nodes and infrastructure to disrupt Kuwaiti special operations elements in our area of operations."

While Gulf Cooperation Council elements were inserted into various scenarios like clearing buildings, rescuing hostages and retaking key infrastructure, the Soldiers of Bat-tle Company played the role of bad guys, firing blanks at allied forces.

As two helicopters landed on a farm in the Kuwaiti desert, a cloud of dust kicked up from rotating rotor blades provided cover for the swarm of international special opera-tions troops that poured out. The bevy of uniformed personnel immediately took up an offensive position alongside two mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles as they made their way toward their objective with weapons drawn.

Meanwhile, Battle Company Soldiers held their ground and defended their terri-tory against the approaching assault.

"We've done numerous partnership missions with the Kuwaiti forces where we worked to integrate with them and kind of see how they do their thing," said Staff Sgt. Andy Anderson, platoon sergeant assigned to Battle Company.

In the midst of retaking the farm, the Gulf Cooperation Council forces were able to exercise an array of skills, from clearing rooms to combat casualty care to detainee op-erations all while working together seamlessly.

In a vehicle board, search and seizure scenario, two waves of GCC forces were inserted onto an oil tanker. The first wave rappelled in from helicopters; the second ap-proached via speedboat right up to the side of the vessel and mounted the stairs, all with weapons at the ready.

They shot, moved and communicated as they made their way from room to room, detaining the opposition forces and rescuing hostages.

In a scenario located in a warehouse complex in Subhan Army Base, teams of GCC elements rolled into the complex in mine-resisted, ambush-protected vehicles, while other teams poured through an opening in the fence, stacked up alongside the ware-houses, tossed M84 stun grenades into the open doors, waited for them to detonate, then cleared each warehouse.

Once they set up a perimeter around the warehouses, more teams rolled up in black SUVs, sirens blaring, to the final objective of the scenario, a row of trailers at the back of the complex. Again the GCC forces worked together to clear the final buildings, neutralizing the threats, and conducting detainee operations.

Along with special operations forces from the GCC, U.S. Marines, Navy and Air Force played roles in the execution of the scenarios; a "We've been able to work with the United States Air Force, U.S. Marines, the Navy, as well as the Army's special (operations) forces units, so it's a great experience that a lot of my tankers have not had the chance to do," Hale said. "It's also a chance for my tankers to get some experience in dismounted operations. Essentially, a lot of the dis-mounted tactics that we use translate over to the mounted world, so we're actually able to teach mounted tactics dismounted. It's been a great learning experience from the top down. I think all of us are taking a lot from this."