Photo By Sgt. Lisa Vines | Spc. James Elliot, a forward observer assigned to 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry...... read more read more
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OSTRAVA, Czech Republic - With approximately 220,000 attendees during the 2018 Czech Republic NATO Days event, with the U.S. as the Special Partner Nation, it solidified its position as the prime annual military and security display in Europe.
2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and 6th Attack Reconnaissance Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, represented the United States Army at the NATO Days in Ostrava, Czech Republic, with a variety of static and interactive displays, Sept. 15-16, 2018.
NATO began hosting the annual open house in 2001 as a regional public presentation of armed forces, police and rescue divisions. Since then it has grown into the largest military, security and air show in central Europe.
The U.S. has participated in the Czech NATO Days since 2007. The U.S. is the Special Partner Nation for 2018, a nod to the 100th anniversary of the U.S. and Czech diplomatic relations.
“Being the 100th anniversary [of U.S.-Czech relations] and the Special Partner, it’s pretty cool to show them what we’ve got,” said Spc. Isaiah Espadas, an electrical, armament and avionics repairer for 6-17 CAV.
Since the conception of Special Partner Nations in 2014, there have been four featured countries before the U.S.; Slovakia, Germany, Sweden and Poland.
“The U.S. plays a special role in NATO,” said U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 David J. Williams, a test pilot for the 6-17 CAV. “We’re going through different countries all the time doing training events with NATO allies.”
As the 2018 Special Partner Nation, the U.S. displayed a wide variety of capabilities and equipment, including an M1A2 Abrams tank, an M3A3 Bradley, an M2A3 Bradley and two AH-64D Apache helicopters.
The static displays were popular with visitors, adults and children alike.
“We’ve been showing everybody our Bradley and Abrams, giving them a quick tour, taking pictures. It was a lot more people than I expected,” said U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Sean Regan, a fire support officer for 2-12 CAV. “We’ve talked a lot with the soldiers and bonded with them over different vehicles and weapons.”
The Ivy Eagles’ aircraft had lines of visitors waiting to climb into the cockpit and ask questions.
“It was amazing, especially to see how many people asked questions about the airframe and to talk about my job,” said Espadas. “Until the very end, we had people asking questions, trying to sit in the aircraft, taking pictures with the aircraft.”
In addition to static displays, 2-12 CAV participated in a joint demonstration of ground forces equipment with one of their Bradley Fighting Vehicles as well as Czech and German tanks.
“We did a dynamic display with a T-72[M4] and Leopard 2,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Bradley Labuga, a section leader with 2-12 CAV. “For the mobility maneuver, we showed the capabilities of our vehicle and our armament. We traversed the track, slewed the gun, did a little bit of donuts. Had fun with it.”
The U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps were also represented with various aircraft.
According to the Czech 2018 NATO Days’ official website, the purpose of the event is to raise public awareness about the importance of international cooperation with a focus on partnership with NATO members.
Additional participating countries were Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The Ironhorse brigade is currently deployed as part of toe-to-toe armored brigade rotations in support of Atlantic Resolve across Europe. Community events such as the Czech 2018 NATO Days are part of Atlantic Resolve’s mission to reassure allies and partners through multinational training and security cooperation activities.
| Date Taken: | 09.19.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 09.19.2018 11:27 |
| Story ID: | 293500 |
| Location: | OSTRAVA, CZ |
| Hometown: | APPLE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | ATWATER, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT WASHINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Hometown: | LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 258 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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