Joint and coalition partners prep IBCT for Afghanistan mission

  • Published
  • By Casey E. Bain
  • JFIIT, USJFCOM
HOHENFELS, Germany --  Soldiers from the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Baumholder, Germany, and joint and coalition partners from eight nations completed a mission rehearsal exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center here recently to prepare for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

This capstone training event for the 170th IBCT included vital support from the U.S. Air Force Europe Warrior Preparation Center, known as the Bullseye Team, and U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Fires Integration and Interoperability Team, according to senior leaders at JMRC.

"The work done by JFIIT, USJFCOM and USAFE provided us additional capabilities and allowed us to do things like (provide) continuous virtual unmanned aircraft systems and close air support, even if we didn't have those assets flying live here," said Army Col. John Spiszer, commander, JMRC. "That's a significant advantage for the units training here, and when you integrate the multinational forces into the mix, it's a real good situation and separates us from the other training centers."

More than 4,000 participants from all four U.S. military services and eight coalition partners including Albania, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia participated in this three-week long exercise.

"The JMRC, USAFE, and USJFCOM team are great examples of how we can integrate our coalition partners into a first-class training environment that benefits the entire team," said Marine Corps Maj. Kevin Moody, JFIIT's JMRC lead. "This training will help the entire fires team shorten their learning curve and will improve the integration of coalition assets so the ground commander can more efficiently leverage all available capabilities in Afghanistan."

The exercise integrated a variety of joint enablers to replicate the resources the BCT commander will have to support the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

"The stated mission of the Taliban is to defeat NATO and kick NATO out of Afghanistan," said Army Brig. Gen. Steven Salazar, commander, Joint Multinational Training Command, Grafenwoehr, Germany. "What we're doing is NATO training by preparing our units, as well as our coalition partners, for NATO operations in Afghanistan. No other combat training center is doing that. Helping us accomplish that are our joint enablers, like JFIIT. I can't think of a single joint enabler that we have not been able to employ; they're all absolutely essential."

"Our primary mission is to assist the command in their efforts to achieve a joint environment for each rotational unit that comes here to train," said Ervin Cade, lead contractor, USJFCOM's Joint National Training Capability Support Element, Hohenfels, Germany. "The goal is to provide JMRC with joint enablers like JFIIT, Special Operations Forces elements, the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, and others to create an accurate and realistic training environment that will foster greater integration and understanding between joint and multinational partners before they deploy. Ultimately, it makes us a better combined team and will save lives in the process."

JFIIT helped integrate several joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to facilitate the joint fires targeting process for the training unit during the exercise.

"These joint assets help round us out and provide crucial resources that we couldn't otherwise provide to the training audience," said Army Maj. Sherman Watson, plans chief, JMRC. "Our goal is to replicate the operational environment from in-theater so the rotational training unit learns how to leverage those capabilities before they actually deploy. The joint fires training and JISR integration is an important part of what we're providing to both U.S. and multinational units that come here to train."

Providing a realistic and challenging multinational training environment is just one of the unique advantages to training at JMRC, according to participants at the exercise.

"The training here has been spot on," said Army Chief Warrant Officer Philip White, Apache attack helicopter pilot from 3-159 Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, Ansbach, Germany. "The opportunity to train at a world-class facility with so many joint and coalition partners has been incredible. I think we're all learning a lot of valuable lessons from each other and that will make us a better team when we deploy."

Enhancing air-ground integration and CAS skills of both U.S. and multinational participants were some of the benefits of the exercise.

"The training here is about combined fires not just joint fires," added Moody. "The unique nature of this training center is that it provides exceptional air-to-ground training for the entire joint and multinational team that accurately replicates what is occurring in theater."