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U.S. Army and North Macedonian Soldiers pose in front of a targetry storage warehouse under construction during Resolute Castle 24 Distinguished Visitor Day at the Krivolak Training Area on June 04, 2024. Resolute Castle 24 is a USAREUR-AF directed exercise that utilizes U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and NATO engineers to increase partner capacity and strengthen capabilities across NATO’s eastern member states through real-world engineer-related training and the expansion of infrastructure in support of defender-series exercises. (U.S. Army photo by Cpt. Misael Saldivar)
(Photo Credit: Capt. Misael Saldivar)VIEW ORIGINAL2 / 7Show Caption +Hide Caption –
Sgt. First Class William Hall II, platoon sergeant of 3/902 ECC carries excess material to storage during the construction of a heavy vehicle wash rack at the Krivolak Training Area on June 4, 2024 during Resolute Castle 24. Resolute Castle 24 is a USAREUR-AF directed exercise that utilizes U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and NATO engineers to increase partner capacity and strengthen capabilities across NATO’s eastern member states through real-world engineer-related training and the expansion of infrastructure in support of defender-series exercises. (U.S. Army photo by Cpt. Misael Saldivar)
(Photo Credit: Capt. Misael Saldivar)VIEW ORIGINAL3 / 7Show Caption +Hide Caption –
Brig. Gen. Besnik Emini, commander of the North Macedonian Operations Command, evaluates current construction operations with Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon and Command Sgt. Maj. Douglas Galick, command team of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during Resolute Castle 24 Distinguished Visitor Day at the Krivolak Training Area on June 04, 2024. Resolute Castle 24 is a USAREUR-AF directed exercise that utilizes U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and NATO engineers to increase partner capacity and strengthen capabilities across NATO’s eastern member states through real-world engineer-related training and the expansion of infrastructure in support of defender-series exercises. (U.S. Army photo by Cpt. Misael Saldivar)
(Photo Credit: Capt. Misael Saldivar)VIEW ORIGINAL4 / 7Show Caption +Hide Caption –
Command Sgt. Maj. Douglas Galick, Command Sgt. Maj. Of the United States army Corps of Engineers, and Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, the U.S. Army Chief of Engineers, pose with Spc. Robert Lajeret III and Spc. Nathan McWhorter, equipment operators from the 500th ESC. The command team presented these soldiers with their personal challenge coins in recognition of their extraordinary efforts during Resolute Castle 24 Distinguished Visitor Day at the Krivolak Training Area on June 04, 2024. Resolute Castle 24 is a USAREUR-AF directed exercise that utilizes U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and NATO engineers to increase partner capacity and strengthen capabilities across NATO’s eastern member states through real-world engineer-related training and the expansion of infrastructure in support of defender-series exercises. (U.S. Army photo by Cpt. Misael Saldivar)
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U.S. Army and North Macedonian Soldiers build the foundation frame in preparation to lay cement during Resolute Castle 24 Distinguished Visitor Day at the Krivolak Training Area on June 04, 2024. Resolute Castle 24 is a USAREUR-AF directed exercise that utilizes U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and NATO engineers to increase partner capacity and strengthen capabilities across NATO’s eastern member states through real-world engineer-related training and the expansion of infrastructure in support of defender-series exercises. (U.S. Army photo by Cpt. Misael Saldivar)
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Lt. Boyana Yovanova (MKD), platoon leader of the North Macedonian 1st Engineer Battalion, poses with Sgt. First Class Richardson and Staff Sgt. Aaron Black of the U.S Security Force Assistance Brigade during Resolute Castle 24’s distinguished visitor day at the Krivolak Training Area on June 04, 2024. Resolute Castle 24 is a USAREUR-AF directed exercise that utilizes U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and NATO engineers to increase partner capacity and strengthen capabilities across NATO’s eastern member states through real-world engineer-related training and the expansion of infrastructure in support of defender-series exercises. (U.S. Army photo by Cpt. Misael Saldivar)
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Sgt. First Class Daytwon Stitts Sr., platoon sergeant of 2/500 ESC briefs Lt. General Scott Spellmon and Command Sgt. Maj. Douglas Galick on his platoon’s construction operation during Resolute Castle 24 Distinguished Visitor Day at the Krivolak Training Area on June 04, 2024. Resolute Castle 24 is a USAREUR-AF directed exercise that utilizes U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and NATO engineers to increase partner capacity and strengthen capabilities across NATO’s eastern member states through real-world engineer-related training and the expansion of infrastructure in support of defender-series exercises. (U.S. Army photo by Cpt. Misael Saldivar)
(Photo Credit: Capt. Misael Saldivar)VIEW ORIGINAL
U.S. Army Chief Engineer inspects joint construction operations during Resolute Castle 2024.
KRIVOLAK TRAINING AREA, North Macedonia – The 7th Engineer Brigade, in collaboration with the North Macedonian armed forces, hosted the U.S. Army Chief of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, on June 4, 2024, during construction operations under the Resolute Castle 2024 exercise.
This joint exercise revolves around creating and improving real-world infrastructure to enhance the North Macedonian armed forces’ capabilities to train. The 7th Engineer Brigade deployed the 500th Engineer Support Company and the 902nd Engineer Construction Company which will work alongside the 1st North Macedonian Engineer Battalion and U.S. Navy Seabees.
“This is an excellent opportunity for our engineer battalions that are out in the field to work on collective training that for us, as engineers, we don’t always get at our home station,” said Spellmon. “We don’t fight, and we don’t build things [alone]; we must rely on our international counterparts that are out here with us; with the Navy Seabees that are out here with us. We do this as a team.”
The current building projects are aimed at laying the foundation to bring heavy armor through the Krivolak Training Area for joint training with the North Macedonian military. These projects include: a targetry storage warehouse, a heavy vehicle wash rack, an UAS airstrip, a motor pool, and range road improvements.
According to Brig. Gen. John Lloyd, division commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Atlantic Division, the impact of this exercise is not just about construction, but the capacity to increase interoperability and overall readiness across our partner nations, which ultimately is mutually beneficial to everyone.
“It’s really about readiness. It’s great to see the battalion Soldiers getting some real-world training,” said Lloyd, “what really inspired me is that you have a lot of new Soldiers coming straight out of AIT that have never participated in a training exercise so large, and you can tell they are getting a lot of quality training. I think it’s the perfect exercise to improve the readiness of the regiment.”
RC24 is ultimately a mutually beneficial exercise, where improving the training area’s infrastructure will generate a higher quality of training for both U.S. and North Macedonian troops. Even before the cement starts to dry, leaders from both nations are already looking forward towards developing this partnership even further.
“Resolute Castle lets us prepare ourselves for DE25 by allowing us to accept all the participating force packages, allowing for greater integration between our armed forces,” said Brig. Gen. Besnik Emini, the commander of Operations Command Army of the Republic of North Macedonia. “We appreciate that the U.S. Army is here assisting us in building these facilities where our Soldiers can shoot, train, evaluate, and be ready to deploy. This is very important for us because this reinforces the message that we are stronger together!”
Resolute Castle 24 is a USAREUR-AF directed exercise that utilizes U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and NATO engineers to increase partner capacity and strengthen capabilities across NATO’s eastern member states through real-world engineer-related training and the expansion of infrastructure in support of defender-series exercises.
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