Army Reserve liaison Soldiers connect Nations

By Sgt. Daniel FriedbergJune 22, 2021

U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Allen Rust, an air and missile defense chief with the 209th Digital Liaison Detachment, 7th Mission Support Command, left, shakes hands with Romanian Army Col. Adrian Petrica of the Multi-National Command Southeast, at the close of a DEFENDER-Europe 21 command post exercise in Bucharest, Romania, June 14, 2021. The 209th DLD provided liaison capability between the U.S. Army´s V Corps, Joint Force Land Component Command and the Romanian MNC-SE.
1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Allen Rust, an air and missile defense chief with the 209th Digital Liaison Detachment, 7th Mission Support Command, left, shakes hands with Romanian Army Col. Adrian Petrica of the Multi-National Command Southeast, at the close of a DEFENDER-Europe 21 command post exercise in Bucharest, Romania, June 14, 2021. The 209th DLD provided liaison capability between the U.S. Army´s V Corps, Joint Force Land Component Command and the Romanian MNC-SE. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
U.S. Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Wanda N. Williams, commander of the 7th Mission Support Command, shares her coin and a photo with a Romanian Army Multi-National Command Southeast Soldier during a visit to MNC-SE headquarters for exercise DEFENDER-Europe 21 in Bucharest, Romania, June 13, 2021. Soldiers of the 209th Digital Liaison Detachment, 7th MSC, provided liaison capability between the U.S. Army´s V Corps, Joint Force Land Component Command and the Romanian MNC-SE.
2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Wanda N. Williams, commander of the 7th Mission Support Command, shares her coin and a photo with a Romanian Army Multi-National Command Southeast Soldier during a visit to MNC-SE headquarters for exercise DEFENDER-Europe 21 in Bucharest, Romania, June 13, 2021. Soldiers of the 209th Digital Liaison Detachment, 7th MSC, provided liaison capability between the U.S. Army´s V Corps, Joint Force Land Component Command and the Romanian MNC-SE. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Maj. Forrest McKinley, senior noncommissioned officer of the 2500th Digital Liaison Detachment, 7th Mission Support Command, left, develops the base access roster for his Soldiers with Italian Army Sgt. Maj. Giovanni Di Maio during exercise DEFENDER-Europe 21, in Capua, Italy, June 10, 2021. The 2500th DLD provided liaison capability between the U.S. Army´s V Corps and the Italian Army's Divisione Acqui.
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Maj. Forrest McKinley, senior noncommissioned officer of the 2500th Digital Liaison Detachment, 7th Mission Support Command, left, develops the base access roster for his Soldiers with Italian Army Sgt. Maj. Giovanni Di Maio during exercise DEFENDER-Europe 21, in Capua, Italy, June 10, 2021. The 2500th DLD provided liaison capability between the U.S. Army´s V Corps and the Italian Army's Divisione Acqui. (Photo Credit: Sgt. Daniel Friedberg) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers of the 2500th Digital Liaison Detachment, 7th Mission Support Command, and the 44th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 2nd Signal Brigade, along with evaluators from U.S. Army Southern European Task Force-Africa, pose together in front of the divisional operations center of the Italian Army´s Divisione Acqui at the conclusion of a command post exercise for DEFENDER-Europe 21 in Capua, Italy, June 14, 2021. The 2500th DLD provided liaison capability between the U.S. Army´s V Corps and the Italian Army's Divisione Acqui.
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers of the 2500th Digital Liaison Detachment, 7th Mission Support Command, and the 44th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 2nd Signal Brigade, along with evaluators from U.S. Army Southern European Task Force-Africa, pose together in front of the divisional operations center of the Italian Army´s Divisione Acqui at the conclusion of a command post exercise for DEFENDER-Europe 21 in Capua, Italy, June 14, 2021. The 2500th DLD provided liaison capability between the U.S. Army´s V Corps and the Italian Army's Divisione Acqui. (Photo Credit: Sgt. Daniel Friedberg) VIEW ORIGINAL
U.S. Army Reserve Col. Greg Gimenez, commander of the 2500th Digital Liaison Detachment, 7th Mission Support Command, right, presents Maj. Gen. Nicola Terzano, commander of the Italian Army´s Divsione Acqui, a unit friendship award during exercise DEFENDER-Europe 21 in Capua, Italy, June 14, 2021. The 2500th embedded with the Divisione Acqui to help with liaison support of the U.S. Army´s V Corps and Joint Force Land Component Command during the exercise.
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Reserve Col. Greg Gimenez, commander of the 2500th Digital Liaison Detachment, 7th Mission Support Command, right, presents Maj. Gen. Nicola Terzano, commander of the Italian Army´s Divsione Acqui, a unit friendship award during exercise DEFENDER-Europe 21 in Capua, Italy, June 14, 2021. The 2500th embedded with the Divisione Acqui to help with liaison support of the U.S. Army´s V Corps and Joint Force Land Component Command during the exercise. (Photo Credit: Sgt. Daniel Friedberg) VIEW ORIGINAL

BUCHAREST, Romania/CAPUA, Italy - Approximately two dozen Army Reserve liaison Soldiers of the 209th and 2500th Digital Liaison Detachments, 7th Mission Support Command, recently deployed to Italy and Romania to provide allied partner interoperability support of the U.S. Army´s V Corps and Joint Force Land Component Command during a command post evaluation at the close of exercise DEFENDER-Europe 21 from June 10-15, 2021.

The 7th Mission Support Command is the only U.S. Army Reserve command stationed in Europe. The 209th and 2500th DLDs provide liaison capability between U.S. Army Forces and multinational operational headquarters to ensure interoperability among partnered ground forces in Europe.

That liaison capability comes in the form of both U.S. Soldier and digital communication equipment.

“We serve as a conduit between a host nation partner and the U.S. Army,” said Maj. Allen Rust, air and missile defense chief for the 209th DLD and Defender-Europe 21 exercise planner. “If a host nation needs to communicate with the U.S. Army and they don’t have the means to do it, whether it be digital or even just human capabilities to make a phone call, we’re there to go inside the middle of their joint operations center, integrate with their unit, and connect them to the U.S. Army.”

In Romania, the 209th DLD split into two sections with 11 Soldiers moving to Bucharest to work with the Romanian-led Multi-National Corps-Southeast, while an additional ten Soldiers went to Slobozia under the Multi-National Division-Southeast.

“It’s important to be a part of a U.S. exercise with a NATO unit so young Soldiers can actually understand how we come together, why we’re here in Europe and why we fight the way we fight and the complexities and go with it,” said Rust. “The experience to go travel to another country and understand their way of doing things, their military – the NATO way – it broadens the younger troops that come into the unit to understand why we do what we do.”

Parallel to the 209th DLD’s efforts in Romania, the 2500th DLD was building connections with the Italian Army´s Divisione Acqui in support of V Corps and the DEFENDER-Europe 21 exercise on Caserma Oreste Salomone at Capua, just north of Naples near the amphitheater made famous by the historical gladiator Spartacus.

Eighteen Soldiers from the 2500th DLD, including a four-Soldier signal support team from Alpha Company, 44th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, shrugged off the searing southern Italian sun in temperatures exceeding 90°F to set up operations, tents and satellite dishes at the perimeter of the Division Acqui´s tactical operations enclosure.

“The Acqui Division has done a splendid job of being able to talk to us,” said Army Staff Sgt. Tyson Hall, an intelligence noncommissioned officer with the 2500th DLD.

Hall said that potential language issues were easily overcome by the unit, because many of its Reserve Soldiers actually live in Italy near its location in Longare and speak fluent Italian. He also said that the senior Italian Army cadre he met were comfortably fluent in English and working with US Forces.

Maj. Cody Smith, a plans officer with the 2500th, said the deployment gave his unit a great deal of experience as both a team working together and as an integral part of multi-national theater level operations.

“We talk to our Acqui Division partner, we talk to U.S. Army Europe, we talk all the way down to our unit level and we´re meeting the intent and purpose of each one of the commanders at all levels,” said Smith.

Smith said that the learning curve for him personally and the unit was steep, but with flexibility and a good use of after action reviews, he looked forward to exploiting future opportunities to improving the unit´s efficacy as an integral part of the U.S. Army´s plan to meet interoperability requirements in Europe.