DÜLMEN, Germany – Being stationed in Europe offers U.S. Soldiers plenty of unique opportunities to train with allied partner nations and their armed forces, and often times that training can be a lot of fun. Two Soldiers from Army Field Support Battalion-Germany’s Dülmen Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite had a fun day training with a German armed forces reserve unit from Dülmen recently in the forests nearby the APS-2 site as part of the reserve unit’s annual comradeship bivouac.
Army Capt. Roberto Rivera, who is the Dülmen APS-2 worksite plans and operations officer, and Sgt. 1st Class Belloc Anim, who is the site’s senior supply noncommissioned officer, took part in the bivouac, Aug. 26.
Rivera and Anim – along with their hosts from the Association of Reservists of the German Armed Forces, Dülmen – completed a 12-kilometer foot march which included several training station stops along the way that tested on their knowledge on cover and concealment, electronic communications in a field environment, sector sketches, reconnaissance and reporting, and more.
“I had done something similar when I was a lieutenant in Ansbach (Germany), and for me events like this are a great way to break the ice and foster positive relationships with our German counterparts and the local community,” said Rivera.
It was a good opportunity to meet some of these reservists from Dülmen and network and learn from them, Rivera said. It was also interesting to see some of their common tasks and fundamentals and compare how they train to how Soldiers in the U.S. Army train.
“One of the stations was occupy a fighting position and draw a sector sketch. They showed us how they draw a sector sketch, and I showed them how we do it,” Rivera said. “And this whole time I’m being taught a history lesson on Dülmen by one of the senior members. He took us to an area where the U.S. used to house weapons in the past. It was very interesting.”
The foot march started at the old Dülmen radio tower barracks, which used to be run by the British and is located in the middle of the city. From there, the foot march route took participants through the forests around Dülmen and back, between 11- and 13-kilometers long, in total.
One of the highlights was the sniper station, Rivera said. They had a stalking lane set up where participants crept or crawled through the woods while a spotter looked for any of their movements. If they were spotted, a whistle would sound indicating they’d been seen and caught.
“This one guy who used to be a sniper in the Germany Army taught us that and how to properly don a ghillie suit and use natural camouflage to conceal our position and movements,” Rivera said. “It was cool.”
After the foot march the German reservists held a barbeque and invited the U.S. Soldiers to attend. “They do this every year. It’s a lot of fun,” Rivera said.
The Dülmen APS-2 worksite where Rivera and Anim work is comprised of about 140,000 square feet of hardstand space and approximately 480,000 square feet of humidity-controlled warehouse space with an additional 140,000 square feet of storage in the maintenance and storage swing space areas. APS-2 worksites like Dülmen help to reduce deployment timelines, improve deterrence capabilities and provide additional combat power for contingency operations.
The 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s APS-2 program enhances U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s readiness and capability to support the warfighter while simultaneously promoting stability and security in the region. By providing turn-key power projection APS-2 packages ready to deploy at a moment’s notice, the APS-2 program is a key component of U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s power projection and warfighter readiness missions.
The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The brigade is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. Forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging U.S. Army Materiel Command’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website and the official Facebook site.
Social Sharing