Photo By 1st Lt. Brianne Roudebush | Slovenian troops from the 45 Center for Tracked Combat Vehicles (CGBV), operate M84...... read more read more
HOHENFELS, Germany – Against the white backdrop of a snowy Bavarian winter, four Slovenian battle tanks and an American Humvee prepare to convoy out to their training site. Dressed in black, troops from the two countries have combined to role-play the opposition forces during Allied Spirit IV, a multinational training exercise hosted by the U.S. Army Europe's Joint Multinational Readiness Center.
During the exercise, the opposition forces, or OPFOR, clash with friendly forces, or BLUEFOR, in and around small villages, simulating a real-world battlefield.
The U.S. 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, have played OPFOR at Hohenfels since 1990. For the past four months, they have partnered with Slovenian armed forces in order to create a multinational OPFOR.
Working with allies and strengthening partnerships is one of the five pillars of the U.S. Army Europe's Strong Europe Campaign, so when the opportunity arose for Slovenia to provide troops and tanks to assist with training efforts at JMRC, they jumped at the chance.
"Our overall mission is to provide support for rotational training units [RTU] that come here," said 1st Lt. David Reynhout, the platoon leader for 1st Platoon, Company B, 1-4 Infantry. "When we get multinational augmentees, it gives us more people to work with and different tactics we can see. And it's really great to have another four tanks."
Slovenian Lt. Denis Trebizan with the 45 Center for Tracked Combat Vehicles (CGBV) said they also benefit greatly from training with U.S. forces.
"It's a great opportunity for us to train in a different environment," he said. "It's very realistic, which is something we've missed before."
The heavy armor, M84 Main Battle Tanks, provide the main armored asset for the OPFOR during training exercises like Allied Spirit IV.
"It's exciting to have real M-84 tanks rolling next to you," said Lt. Col. Matthew Archambault, the battalion commander of the 1-4 Infantry Regiment, "As an infantryman, there's something about hearing that grinding machinery on the battlefield, it's just motivating."
Archambault also said the tanks bring another element of realism to the training exercises. "Because of our mission here -- to replicate the toughest, most realistic opponent that [our partners and allies] are going to face -- we are always trying to pull the latest lessons out of places like Ukraine and Syria," he said.
The unit uses those lessons, like how Russians are utilizing tanks in Ukraine, as part of their game plan as OPFOR.
In the past, OPFOR has used modified M113 Armored Personnel Carriers to simulate tanks during training exercises. Soldiers with 1-4 like having real tanks on their side.
"The Slovenians enhance our capabilities [as OPFOR] because they have legitimate tanks," said Sgt. Andrew Greel with 1st Platoon, Company B, 1-4 Infantry, "It kind of levels the battlefield, or tilts it even more in our favor."
Greel echoed these sentiments, adding that, "having multinationals here helps us work on our interoperability."
Interoperability is a key theme of Allied Spirit IV and of the Joint Multinational Readiness Center.
"The point of JMRC is to bring every NATO nation together so we can understand each other," Reynhout said. "If we do deploy, we understand each other's tactics and we are used to working together."
Looking towards to future, Archambault said he believes allied militaries will continue to integrate and that the partnership with Slovenia and the relationships his Soldiers are building is a great opportunity.
Lt. Reynhout said, "I knew nothing about Slovenia until [they] came here and now I know a lot more about them and I think we work great together. It really establishes that ability to be able to work with another nation."
The agreement reached between the U.S. and Slovenia in the summer of 2015 was for a two-year partnership.
"I think it's going to be exciting to see where the Slovenians are in two years because they've already demonstrated an incredible amount of learning," Archambault said. "There's some tough conditions out there and they are all in. They will be a force to be reckoned with here and it will make this battalion that much better."
| Date Taken: | 01.31.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.21.2016 16:31 |
| Story ID: | 189505 |
| Location: | HOHENFELS, DE |
| Web Views: | 175 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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