Photo By Spc. Marilyn Spencer | U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. Jeremy Rarant, a joint terminal attack controller,...... read more read more
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DRAWSKO-POMORSKIE, Poland - Paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade held a joint, combined training exercise with the U.S. Air Force and Polish 6th Airborne Brigade May 22 near Borne Sulinowo, Poland, to test the allied forces’ ability to call in air strikes from the ground.
The training event certified the units’ joint fires observers, who work with Air Force joint terminal attack controllers, or JTACs, to bring in fire support to ground forces via aircraft.
“This is a great training opportunity,” said U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Jeremy Rarant, a JTAC assisting with the day’s exercise.
Rarant said multinational exercises like this are especially important to building interoperability across the allied force.
“All NATO pilots speak English, which decreases any communication errors,” he said.
Joint fires observers and JTACs work together to connect eyes on-land and in-air by communicating locations and timing for air strikes. Due to the high degree of responsibility of their jobs, these troops must renew their certification every six months.
While he has been certified many times before, this was 173rd Airborne paratrooper Sgt. Justin Durant’s first time doing so alongside Polish troops.
“It’s been a really great opportunity,” Durant said. “We give them an overview of how we do things, as well as get to learn from them.”
For over a month, U.S. forces, including the 173rd Airborne, have been holding exercises alongside their host nation in Poland – as well as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – to build allied interoperability.
These events have allowed the partner militaries to strengthen bonds between one another. After the training, Polish Warrant Officer Maciek Agacia proudly showed off the new 173rd Airborne patch fixed on his uniform, which he had received in a trade with one of his fellow paratroopers from the U.S.
“I am very proud to wear this patch,” Agaciak said, touching the 173rd’s distinctive shoulder-sleeve insignia featuring a wing, bayonet and airborne tab.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy, is the U.S. Army’s Contingency Response Force in Europe, and is capable of projecting forces to conduct the full of range of military operations across the U.S. European, Central and Africa commands areas of responsibility.
| Date Taken: | 05.22.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.29.2014 06:20 |
| Story ID: | 131417 |
| Location: | DRAWSKO-POMORSKIE, PL |
| Web Views: | 334 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NATO forces hold call-for-fire certification in Poland, by SPC Marilyn Spencer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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