US and Polish Cavalry troops participate in Patch Ceremony

SWIETOSZOW, Poland - Troopers from the 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, participated in a ceremony with Polish soldiers from the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade, to celebrate the partnership between the U.S. and Poland at Red Square in Swietoszow, Poland, Oct. 23.

The 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, is currently in Europe to support Atlantic Resolve. Atlantic Resolve is a U.S. endeavor to fulfill NATO commitments by rotating U.S. -based units throughout the European theater and training with NATO Allies and partners.

Speakers at the event were Col. Dariusz Parylak, commander, 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade, 11th Lubuska Armored Cavalry Division and Lt. Col. Dave Maxwell, squadron commander, 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment.

"Today's ceremony really embodied what strong Europe is all about, to display a partnership between two of the NATO partners, Poland and the United States," said Lt. Col. Dave Maxwell, squadron commander, 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment. "We were able to come together and had an outward display of our future teamwork as we go into the training cycle of our rotational deployment."

During the ceremony, Parylak presented commanders of the 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment Troops with the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade unit patch. Maxwell presented the 1st Infantry Division patch to commanders from the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade.

The action imparted the underlying message that the two cavalry units are one team, Maxwell relayed.

Joint operations to be conducted together in the future are a river crossing and a reconnaissance operation.

Sgt. 1st Class Adam Rausch, operations noncommissioned officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 5th Cavalry Regiment, took part in the reconnaissance of the site of where the river crossing will occur for training in the future.

Forging the new relationship between the two units is still a work in progress, as the unit is transitioning from planning into training.

It is always rough figuring things out at first before smoothing out, since it is a learning environment for all parties, he relayed.

"It's a great experience for newer Soldiers," Rausch remarked. "They're not going to understand right away what we're doing but in the end, they'll get the bigger picture out of it."

As the ceremony indicated, the bigger picture is the relationship between the 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment and the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade.

The purpose behind training is about more than overcoming challenges, it is about opportunities, Maxwell said. The opportunity to increase interoperability and building the ability to work side by side.