Friday, May 29, 2015
What is it?
Exercise Combined Resolve IV, a U.S. Army Europe-directed, Joint Multinational Training Command-led exercise, is designed to train the Army’s regionally aligned forces (RAF) supporting U.S. European Command, the 4th Infantry Division headquarters and the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, to operate within a coalition structure alongside the NATO allies.
Combined Resolve IV is part of the European rotation of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, headquartered in Fort Stewart, Georgia, and a keystone in building the RAF for the Army. The brigade is also currently providing the main U.S. force to Operation Atlantic Resolve in Europe.
To support those missions, the Army has pre-positioned the European Activity Set at Grafenwoehr, Germany, a state-of-the-art set of armored vehicles and equipment capable of outfitting a brigade combat team headquarters and battalion-sized task force with enablers.
What is the Army doing?
Exercise Combined Resolve IV features more than 4,700 participants from 10 NATO allies including Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Slovenia, the United States, and three partner nations of Moldova, Montenegro, and Serbia.
The first phase of the exercise will take place in Germany’s Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels Training Areas and focus on maneuver training. Units will then transition to the Grafenwoehr Training Area to conduct live-fire gunnery. Combined Resolve IV will culminate with combined-arms, live-fire exercise integrating digital, virtual, and constructive-based mission command training techniques. A multinational opposing force from the Hohenfels-based U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, will enhance the complex operating environment.
What continued efforts does the Army have planned for the future?
Elements of a U.S. Army brigade rotate here twice a year to participate in the Combined Resolve exercise series. That brigade, which is aligned with European Command, is the Army’s contribution to the NATO Response Force. Future Army rotational training events in Europe will take advantage of the Joint Multinational Training Command’s unified live-fire, maneuver, simulation, and classroom resources and infrastructure, at established training areas in Germany and emerging training areas in Eastern Europe.
Why is this important to the Army?
As the featured training event for rotational forces in Europe, the Combined Resolve series of exercises provides an opportunity for U.S.-based Army forces to train alongside NATO allies and partners across Europe. These exercises establish tactical, technical, personal, and professional connections that develop the Army’s expeditionary and coalition-building capacities as they reassure European allies, increase NATO readiness and interoperability and maintain collective security in the region.
Resources:
Subscribe to STAND-TO! to learn about the U.S. Army initiatives.