Photo By Staff Sgt. Anthony Jones | Estonian Defense Forces Command Sgt. Maj. Siim Saliste addresses U.S. Army...... read more read more
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TAPA, Estonia – U.S. Army paratroopers gathered under the shelter of a tent June 13 to celebrate the U.S. Army’s birthday and the end of a two-month stay here in the Baltic nation.
Paratroopers of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade took time out of packing up their camp, located on an Estonian Defense Forces training area outside of Tapa, Estonia, to celebrate the Army’s 239th birthday.
The Soldiers, who arrived in Estonia in late April, celebrated the Army’s birthday a day early out of respect for their Estonian hosts. In Estonia, June 14 is a national day of mourning for the more than 10,000 civilians who were forcibly deported by Soviet officials and sent to prisons across the USSR in 1941.
To celebrate the birthday, paratroopers received a large cake made by local Estonian bakers. Officials from the U.S. Embassy as well as the Estonian Defense Forces spoke with the Soldiers about the importance of their mission in the small country on the Baltic coast. Before the ceremony began, Chever Voltmer, chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, spoke with the paratroopers about the importance of their mission in Estonia.
“Congratulations on your birthday, but more than that, I would like to thank you for being here,” Voltmer said to the Soldiers.
Voltmer spoke with the paratroopers, telling them how Estonians have been watching Company C’s actions on Estonian news and how nearly every Estonian she speaks with expresses gratitude for the paratroopers being in their country.
“Your presence here, I don’t want to understate it,” Voltmer said. “This is a huge story in the press, everything you have done has been followed very closely by the Estonian population. I would like to congratulate you on your birthday, thank you for conducting your mission and wish you Godspeed getting home.”
“The bedrock of our international alliance is NATO, and Article V ‘An attack on one, is an attack on all’ is the most important provision from the Estonian point of view,” Voltmer said. “The Estonian president called me in and asked for a number of deterrent and reassurance measures; one of which was boots on the ground.”
Company C became those boots on the ground on April 29 when the company arrived at Amari Air Base. The company’s arrival in Estonia was part of a larger unscheduled land-forces exercise meant to demonstrate commitment to NATO obligations and sustain interoperability with allied forces.
Company C’s brigade, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy, is the Army Contingency Response Force in Europe, and took the responsibility of sending approximately 600 paratroopers to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to be the tactical level of the demonstration of commitment.
U.S. Army Capt. Dwayne Steppe, commander of Company C, said the way his unit approached the mission of building interoperability with allied nations, bolstering confidence of the Baltic region and demonstrating NATO resolve was through training side by side with the Estonian army.
“That is the future of the Army,” Steppe said. “When you look at the Global War on Terror, we took on a lot and what we’ve realized is the only way we can do this is together.”
Throughout Company C’s time in Estonia, they conducted a wide variety of training events, from airborne drops to training events with NATO partners. One training exercise was Steadfast Javelin 1, where Company C was part of a 6,000 personnel strong NATO force repelling a mock attack on Estonia.
“We hit the ground running,” Steppe said about his paratroopers’ actions during Steadfast Javelin. “We were in the back of their armored personnel carriers and were hard charging through the woods.”
Since the end of Steadfast Javelin, Company C continues to focus on interoperability training and what Steppe calls “bilateral lethality training.” This includes individual weapons training, training on larger weapons such as mortars, squad level live-fire tactical training and platoon level live-fire training.
“We were working on joint live-fires integration with their mortars and artillery,” Steppe said. “[Having] troops on the ground, explosive and ballistic breaching with their engineers is exactly what we came here to do and we showed that it can work.”
The bilateral lethality training did not mark the first time Estonian Defense Forces and the U.S. Army have worked together. Voltmer said Estonia has been an important ally in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Estonian Defense Forces Command Sgt. Maj. Siim Saliste said his soldiers are familiar with the U.S. military after partnering during the Global War on Terror.
“We’ve been working together for many years in different countries,” Saliste said. “Our soldiers are familiar with how we operate in deployment areas, in the tough places.”
Saliste believes it is nice American Soldiers are working alongside his forces in Estonia, where his troops can share the experiences of Estonian weather, landscape and people. He adds that for years NATO allies have been discussing a smart defense of the region. He said the smart defense could only work if NATO allies fully understand how to integrate with one another and this training is a key part of integration.
Echoing Voltmer’s statements about Estonians closely watching Company C’s actions, Saliste said the people of Estonia are impressed with the U.S. Army.
“It is important for me that even my mother now knows and can see the great soldiers I am working with,” Saliste said at the U.S. Army birthday celebration.
As Company C’s rotation in Estonia ends, the 173rd Airborne will rotate a new company-sized element to train alongside their Estonian allies. Replacing Company C will be a troop from the brigade’s 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 06.19.2014 10:13 |
| Story ID: | 133639 |
| Location: | TAPA, LääNE-VIRUMAA, EE |
| Web Views: | 210 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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