Photo By Capt. Ryan Elizabeth Black | Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and Brig. Gen. Dorin...... read more read more
CINCU, Romania -- Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and Brigadier General Dorin Ionita, Deputy Chief of Staff, Romanian Land Forces Commander visited the 877th Engineer Battalion, Alabama National Guard Cincu Training Range on May 15, 2016 during Operation Resolute Castle .
As Commanding General, Lt. Gen. Hodges is the head of current Atlantic Resolve Operations, throughout Europe, to include Resolute Castle 2016 (RC 2016). Operation Atlantic Resolve is a United States Army and Europe-lead, multinational operation. The mission is to strengthen U.S. relations, trust and comradery with NATO allies.
RC 2016 includes support from a multi-component task force comprised of Active Duty, Reserve, Navy Seabees, and multi-state National Guard forces. Through these partnerships, the ability to work together with coalition forces is fortified while working together to improve training sites in Romania, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Cincu Training Range is the fundamental area of operation in Romania for RC 16. Cincu priorities of work include tasks spanning from both horizontal and vertical construction improvements to military police training and special operations.
The 877th Engineer Battalion, Alabama Army National Guard, partnered with the 10th Engineer Brigade units from the Romanian Army, holds mission command at Cincu, Romania. The 877th Engineer Battalion falls under the command of the 194th Engineer Brigade from the Tennessee Army National Guard, who holds command across the four European countries for the six month duration of Resolute Castle 16 training.
Cincu Training Range has come a long way in its efforts to modernize its capabilities for advanced military training. Based on terrain, infrastructure upgrades, resources and the quality and capabilities of the Romanian soldiers currently stationed at Cincu, the Training Range offers multiple training opportunities during RC 16. Approximately 200 Romanian and American soldiers are scheduled to rotate through the Training Range every three weeks until mid-September during the six-month duration period this year at Cincu.
Support from USAREUR and Joint Task Force East have provided an excellent opportunity to increase interoperability between U.S. and Romanian forces while building alliances to prepare for both peace and war-time operations. The operations at Cincu benefit all militaries involved, as well as the local community, by providing extensive infrastructure projects and civilian contracting opportunities. These opportunities will enable the building of trust, strong working relationships and friendships between great NATO allies.
Lt. Gen. Hodges ensured that all planning and project development was being executed properly during the initial phases of execution. He also visited with the officers-in-charge of each job site and their soldiers participating in the Cincu Training Range engineering projects. Romanian counterpart Brig. Gen. Dorin Ionita, Deputy Chief of Staff, Romanian Land Forces Commander, Lt. Col. Shawn Arnold, 877th EN BN Commander gave an updated in-brief of Cincu’s current are of operations. The main priorities of interest for the visit were to evaluate the current progress of all horizontal and vertical platoon construction projects scheduled for RC 16 while visiting with soldiers conducting MOUT and Detainee Operations training conducted by the 1165th Military Police Company.
Lt. Gen. Hodges expressed his sincere appreciation for the contributions of the National Guard soldiers and awarded a Commander’s coin to four personnel for their exceptional leadership, hard work and dedication to the RC 16 mission. Hodges and Brig. Gen. Ionita expressed high expectations for RC 16. Hodges ensured that future plans are already in progress that will further benefit the United States and Romanian partnership for years to come.
| Date Taken: | 05.15.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.04.2016 06:44 |
| Story ID: | 199949 |
| Location: | CINCU, RO |
| Web Views: | 640 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges Visits Alabama National Guard in Cincu, Romania, by CPT Ryan Elizabeth Black, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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