Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Davis | Spc. James Veara, a horizontal construction engineer with the 186th Engineer Company,...... read more read more
CINCU, Romania. – Soldiers from the 186th Engineer Company from Dothan, Alabama, have returned to Cincu Training Range as part of Resolute Castle 16. Last year, Alabama Guardsmen moved rock and fill to construct a new range road, Route Crimson, for the training range.
The State Partnership Program between the Alabama National Guard and the Romanian Land Forces has grown since its inception in 1993. Their work at Resolute Castle 16 is an ongoing effort continuing to improve the infrastructure at the training range as multinational forces use the base in future operations to conduct various exercises.
The coordination efforts between the Romanian and Alabama National Guard engineers highlight the joint-interoperability necessary for mission success as allied nations - whether on the battlefield or during peacetime operations.
Even though the Resolute Castle 16 mission at Cincu Training Range has many components, the 186th Engineer Company has the critical task to widened a 5 kilometer range road they had helped constructed last year, improve the culvert and drainage systems along the route and extend the range road another two kilometers over a ridgeline connecting two other major range roads.
“By the end of Rotation Three, we hope to be over a certain station at the top of the hill,” said 1st Lt. Jason Lawing, Horizontal Site Officer-In-Charge with the 186th Engineer Company. “So it is all downhill, both in the literal and figurative sense, for the following rotations.”
Multiple objectives are carried out throughout the day along the road where American and Romanian Soldiers work side-by-side. Leaders from both sides coordinate the assets needed, identify who can best supply those assets and with what equipment, according to Staff Sgt. Rozeallan Smith, the Horizontal Site Non-Commissioned-Officer-In-Charge with the 186th Engineer Company.
Despite the language barrier that can exist between the two allied nations, Soldiers have learned to work together to achieve mission success.
“One Romanian used hand signals to guide out dump trucks to drop rocks and layer the rocks onto the road,” said Sgt. Jeremy Qualls, heavy equipment operator with the 186th Engineer Company. “It worked out well! Even though his English was not strong, his command of signals to direct us was spot on. We were all on the same page.”
As the OICs coordinated the day’s tasks to be completed, the engineers from the 186th Engineer Company and the Romanian Engineers moved and worked in-sync with each other. There are other units that have joined the project while they are conducting unit exercises that are separate from Resolute Castle 16. Engineer elements from the Active Duty Army, 2nd Calvary Regiment, out of Germany dedicated assets that not only help with the completion of the project but improves their Soldiers’ capabilities and skills for any situation.
“The ability to work with other units, especially the ease of working with the National Guard and to learn how the Romanians operate, encourages the joint-inoperability of multinational operations,” said 2nd Lt. Raymond Stetter, Alpha Troop, Regimental Engineer Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment. “They all bring a lot to the table.”
On top of learning how to operate in a joint environment, heavy equipment operators from both sides learn the capabilities of varying vehicles and how they can be adjusted as the task needs change due to weather or manning issues.
“It is good to learn American techniques as somethings they do are better,” said Sgt. 1st Class Muresan Florin, a Romanian engineer with the 1653rd Engineer Battalion. “I learned a lot already these days together. It is important to me that we learn to work together.”
The engineers and heavy equipment operators of the 186th Engineer Company working on Route Crimson have taken on the challenge of the multi-faceted mission before them. They prefer working in the operational environment versus the short term training periods on drill weekends or annual training. Each Soldier will have experiences that they can take back home with them upon completion of their rotation at Cincu Training Range.
“My biggest take-away is getting another year of experience operating not only in a partnership country but also getting to know my Soldiers capabilities with the equipment and seeing my team leaders and squad leaders doing the work,” said Lawing.
| Date Taken: | 06.22.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.22.2016 02:11 |
| Story ID: | 202012 |
| Location: | CINCU, RO |
| Web Views: | 461 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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