Photo By Capt. James Phillips | A parajumper with the Spanish 1st Long-Range Reconnaissance Group gives a “thumbs...... read more read more
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The sky is a bright, glaring blue. The wind sweeps through the vast expanse of the Mielno shooting range at Land Forces Training Center Drawsko, Poland. Insects hum in the heat.
All of a sudden, the humming grows. The deep reverberation no longer has anything to do with insects; it is coming from the sky itself.
This shape is also the size of a fly at first, hardly blotting the horizon. It too grows larger and more compelling with each second.
It is the only object at 30,000 feet, so all eyes are drawn to it. As one watches the plane—a C-130—run its marathoner’s pace across the clouds, one sees small specks escaping from its loading bay. They float slowly to the ground below like pollen in the breeze.
A closer look reveals these windswept specks to be parajumpers—airborne soldiers conducting an insertion as part of the Spanish 1st Long-Range Reconnaissance Group based out of Madrid, Spain. They are an elite, specially trained unit whose mission is to provide intelligence and reconnaissance.
Today, they are performing that role in a training environment, showing the capabilities of U.S. partner nations during Saber Strike 18.
The soldiers’ downward journey bumps to a halt on the hard-packed earth. In quick, practiced movements, they establish a secure perimeter. Some pack parachutes while others face outward, their weapons ready.
One of the soldiers scanning the horizon wears an excited smile on his face. He is 1st Cpl. Muñoz Lazaro, a seasoned veteran in the unit.
“We’ve done missions in Kosovo, Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan, but this is our first time in Poland,” he said. “We’ve also jumped with Americans before too.”
While this is definitely not Lazaro’s first landing from on high, his excitement stems from one thing in particular.
“I love to jump,” he said.
While the Spaniards gain accountability of their team, check weapons, and take quick swigs from their hydration kits, senior non-commissioned officers from the U.S. Army take note.
These are the Observers/Coaches/Trainers of the Joint Multinational Readiness Center out of Hohenfels, Germany. They are here to ensure that operations in which many of the players do not speak the same language all learn equally from their experiences in the field while remaining safe in their highly-realistic training environment.
“This [airborne jump] went smooth,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class David Edwards, one of the OCTs at the landing zone. “Each jumper was within a tight shot-group of each other”.
The experience and oversight of these individuals allow for all members of this U.S. Army Europe-led multinational training exercise to become proficient in deterring common threats and promoting interoperability between their armed forces.
The Spanish unit collapses their secured perimeter. All members are accounted for and all equipment is on-hand. The Spaniards march through the open scrubland of Mielno toward several large trucks, the Polish flag emblazoned on each passenger door.
First, duffle bags and ruck sacks are loaded. Afterward, the weary but successful jumpers climb in. Congratulations and fist-bumps pass from person to person.
Cpl. Michel Aleksanderek, a vehicle operator with the Polish 6th Airborne Brigade, receives some pats-on-the-back as well. His unit is in charge of taking these jumpers from their landing zone to their next objective. The next several kilometers would be a long journey without the wheels of a partner country.
He, members of Edwards’ team, and 1st Cpl. Lazaro’s “jefe”—lieutenant—all briefly huddle to ensure they have the correct GPS coordinates for their next waypoint. Multinational communication and cooperation are key in every phase of this exercise.
The trucks rumble off of the drop zone, kicking dust into the now-empty sky. Before stepping into his own vehicle, Aleksanderek sums up the mission succinctly and accurately.
“Everything landed,” he said. “Nothing went wrong.”
| Date Taken: | 06.05.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.09.2018 04:18 |
| Story ID: | 280161 |
| Location: | DRAWSKO POMORSKIE, PL |
| Web Views: | 577 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
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