Photo By Capt. Jeffrey Rivard | Staff Sgt. Bradley Cormier an Army Mountain Warfare School instructor follows behind a...... read more read more
JERICHO, Vermont — During the past year, the Army Mountain Warfare School at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site has been working with mountain forces from several different countries in order to share perspectives and experiences each of the countries has.
“The AMWS routinely conducts information exchanges with foreign nations’ mountain forces. In the past year alone we have worked with Kazakstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Macedonia, and Saudi Arabia,” said Lt. Col. Justin Davis, the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School Commander.
“In each case, nations benefit from the shared perspective on what matters and what works in the mountains. Each of us has recent mountain warfare experience,” said Davis.
The experience that the United States and Macedonia have in common is that gained from Operation Enduring Freedom.
“The other countries we have worked with recently all have issues along their mountainous borders that they must address to maintain order and security,” said Davis
In May, eight Kazakhstani soldiers, both officers and non-commissioned officers from the Independent Mountain Warfare Battalion located near Teraz, Kazakhstan, came to the Army Mountain Warfare School (AMWS) near Jericho, Vermont in hopes of taking away an understanding of all the components required to conduct military mountaineer training.
The soldiers were able to do just that, according to Lt. Col. Askhat Abduvaitov, commander of the Kazakhstani battalion, who said, “The information exchange and combined activities were very high quality, we learned new things and were engaged with new experiences. In case of any need in the future, these people that visited here will be able to work together with American units as they are more interoperable now, tremendous experience for our young state and our young army.”
The engagements are meant to be beneficial to both countries involved. The Vermont Army National Guard and the Kazakhstani Army will have an increased ability to interoperate once they better understand how each other work.
United States Army Central Command (ARCENT) is working with partners in their area of responsibility. Through information exchanges like the one held at the AMWS, both countries build capacity and mutual understanding that increases the potential for interoperability. In times of crisis, natural disaster, or any acts of violence, ARCENT has a place to go in Kazakhstan where there is an already existing relationship.
“That potentially could make our mission much easier to accomplish,” said Lt. Col. Brian Brandt, Kazakstan Desk Office of Strategy and Effects, International Military Affairs, ARCENT.
ARCENT is a component of Central Command. It is composed of reserve and active component soldiers and a staff of over 500 personnel which is responsible for the day to day planning of CENTCOM ground forces operations. They also monitor Theater Security Cooperation activities in their 20 country Area of Operations (AOR). CENTCOM is one of ten combatant commands around the world and is responsible for the Middle East, South and Central Asia. Kazakhstan is one of the countries within CENTCOM’s area of responsibility.
The AMWS receives requests from large commands like ARCENT, Special Operations Command, and foreign militaries to visit the school and observe mountain warfare operations. In this case, ARCENT received the initial request via CENTCOM from Kazakhstan during an annual Military to Military planning conference to conduct a mountain warfare information exchange. ARCENT contacted AMWS to conduct the event due to the school’s established reputation as the eminent authority on mountain operations with a vast amount of tactical experience gained in an operational theater.
“The Kazakhstan Army has identified an issue in the mountainous region of their international borders and are seeking ways to better prepare their military to operate in these areas,” said Davis.
Though they seem enthusiastic, the Kazakhstani’s have not accurately defined the future of their Mountain Warfare Battalion. It remains to be heard, whether the battalion will serve as a training center for other forces inside or outside Kazakhstan.
“It was the goal of this engagement; to help them (the leadership of the Kazakhstani Mountain Battalion) internalize what it takes to create a similar mountain warfare operations school,” said Brandt.
The AMWS has provided ARCENT with the mountain warfare expertise needed to work with the Kazakhstani’s mountain forces since 2007, and both have been working toward trying to establish a training center for the Kazakhstani Army similar to what the Army National Guard administers in Jericho, Vermont.
“For the AMWS this is a unique opportunity to exchange information with a foreign mountain unit. This relationship has broadened our perspective of mountain warfare, and provided us access to another part of the world,” said Davis.
The AMWS has vast experience working with many foreign militaries. These information exchanges bring new ideas that help shape U.S. forces and foreign militaries alike. Through information exchanges, like the one with Kazakhstani soldiers held in May this year, we are able to mutually build capacity to conduct operations in mountainous terrain, strengthen international relationships, and help deter aggression throughout the world.
| Date Taken: | 07.18.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2013 13:19 |
| Story ID: | 101242 |
| Location: | JERICHO, VERMONT, US |
| Web Views: | 462 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, International interoperability, by CPT Jeffrey Rivard, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
