FORT SILL, Okla., June 29, 2017 -- The U.S. Army and the British army exchanged soldiers as part of Exercise Persistent Venture.
This is the second year of the exercise and the first time Fort Sill has been the location for the exchange.
Four British soldiers arrived here June 12, and are observing training in 31st Air Defense Artillery and 75th Field Artillery brigades for three months.
At the same time, three Soldiers from the Fires Center of Excellence are observing British artillery tactics, techniques and procedures.
The U.S. and British armies have fought side-by-side consistently as a combined force since World War I. Leaders believe training and learning from one another outside of war will benefit both countries.
"Each time we've been involved in those conflicts we've had to create new relationships and procedures. The idea of Persistent Venture is we're going to get a baseline understanding of how your army works and you guys are going to get a baseline understanding of how our army works. As a result of that, the next time we go to war together, which I have no doubt we will at some stage, we'll know exactly what we're doing," said Capt. Thomas Ayles, 49th Battery troop commander, 16th Regiment Royal Artillery.
Thompson and Sgt. Declan Parkes, Rapier Detachment commander, 16th Regiment Royal Artillery, observed 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery's 18-day field training exercise.
Soldiers in the "I-Stryke Battalion" completed gunnery skills and demonstrated their ability to defend strategic assets against ballistic missile threats, something the British soldiers are very familiar with.
Their unit, the Joint Ground Based Air Defence, is responsible for delivering just that - a ground based air defense capability, as well as an air picture to the land environment to support U.K. operations.
A major difference between the two forces is how artillery roles are defined.
"In the British army we don't have such a clear delineation between FA and ADA. There's kind of a balance between being a generalist, and we certainly get a lot more breadth in the British Army, than maybe you would if you were purely an air defense officer. What we're looking at in the British Army, at the moment, is possibly adopting a model that's a bit more similar to yours," said Ayles.
He and Parkes have trained with the U.S. before and said as far as allied partners, the similarities make interoperability less of an issue.
"Working with the Americans is great because speaking the same language is a huge advantage. With the French Army, the German Army, you've got to get over the language barrier almost immediately and that's a huge challenge you don't have when you work with the U.S.," said Ayles.
Other than discovering ways to improve technical and procedural interoperability between the two forces, Exercise Persistent Venture is meant to capitalize on the human dimension.
"While there is standardization among the NATO countries, all of our equipment is slightly different so building first these interpersonal relationships helps us resolve technical issues in the future," said 1st Lt. Evan Truesdale, 4th Battalion, 3rd ADA assistant operations officer.
The British soldiers observing the 75th FA Brigade will deploy with them to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., in July. While the British head west, their U.S. counterparts will deploy north of the border to Canada to a location similar to the NTC.
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