Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Wyatt | Soldiers receive training on how to recover a vehicle during a 51st Transportation...... read more read more
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OPOLE, Poland – As part of the 16th Sustainment Brigade’s preparation for the upcoming exercise Anakonda 16, the 51st Transportation Company trained with polish allies Feb. 18-27, further building the interoperability of both nations in the build up to the critical multinational training event scheduled for June in Poland.
This company-level exercise, dubbed “Knight’s Quest,” was a bilateral training effort between the 51st Trans. Company, and the 1st Logistics Battalion, 10th Polish Logistics Brigade. The 51st and its parent battalion, the 39th Transportation Battalion, both regularly participate in the 16th SB’s formal partnership with the 10th Polish Logistics Brigade. The partnership was established in October of 2015 and includes a number of ongoing interoperability efforts and multinational training opportunities.
Weeks of preparation and training led into the execution phase when the exercise kicked off with a 1,000 kilometer convoy from Baumholder, Germany to the Opole training area. The convoy helped the company further develop its communications procedures as each serial commander tracked movements and sent reports internally and to the battalion’s highway operations cell.
According to Lt. Col. Steven Dowgielewicz, commander of 39th Transportation Battalion, the convoy operations were not just a way to get Soldiers and equipment to the exercise, but also a critical part of the training itself.
"Readiness is not operational vehicles sitting in your motor pool ready to roll,” said Dowgielewicz. “Readiness is convoying 600 miles across an international border, setting up a field site, conducting a week of multinational training, convoying back home and being ready to provide logistic support the same day. This is real readiness; expeditionary readiness."
Once on the ground in Poland, the 51st Trans. Co. Soldiers linked up with their Polish counterparts, and together they refined training plans to compare the capabilities of each unit.
The training included driver’s training, entry control point operations, and situational training exercises focusing on transportation support in combat scenarios.
Driver’s training allowed each unit to work on the intercompatability of their vehicles. They compared the capabilities of vehicle weight carrying-capacity, the use of tow bars for vehicle recovery, and the movement of flat racks and containers while observing all safety standards.
Entry control point operations were the most similar between the two units. Many of the Polish soldiers had extensive experience searching vehicles and personnel, and senior Polish soldiers enhanced the training by teaching junior U.S. Soldiers their procedures.
A significant milestone from the training exercise was learning how to connect cables from Polish to U.S. vehicles and trailers.
Overall, the exercise helped Soldiers from both countries learn each other’s standard operating procedures and work on the communication process. Both of these will be critical areas as the company and other units in the 16th SB prepare for Anakonda 16 in June 2016, in which they will be working closely with these same Polish allies.
Spc. Forrest Powell, a wheeled vehicle mechanic from 51st Trans. Co. explained the experience of testing his abilities on technical projects in the field. “Allowing us to work on this equipment shows our ability to adapt to challenges when working with our NATO allies,” Powell said.
One of the challenges, with this, as with many multinational exercises, was the language barrier. But learning to work around that barrier is just what this kind of training is all about, according to Sgt. 1st Class Edrick Torres, a heavy wheeled vehicle driver and platoon sergeant with 51st Trans. Co.
“I used to work in a multi-lingual Army unit, I try to remind Soldiers to speak slowly when communicating with translators so they have time to relay what we’re saying in Polish,” he said. “Soldiers are also learning to use non-verbal communication. Most of the Polish Soldiers have experience working with Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan and they understand the way we operate. Some are getting creative with hand and arm signals to work together.”
For their part, the Polish hosts of the exercise were completely focused on partnership even at the lowest levels. Cpl. Adrian Popczyk, a signal support systems specialist, assigned to 10th Polish Logistics Brigade summed it up quite simply; “We want feel used to working together.”
| Date Taken: | 02.26.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.01.2016 10:37 |
| Story ID: | 190616 |
| Location: | OPOLE, PL |
| Web Views: | 137 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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