Photo By Staff Sgt. Christina Westover | Col. Patrick Michaelis, commander of the Mission Command Element in Poznan, Poland,...... read more read more
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DRAWSKO POMORSKIE, Poland (Apr. 1, 2019) -- Spectators watch closely as U.S. and Polish tanks crawl over the hill in a tactical formation before firing, sending shock waves across the training area as the artillery rounds hit the impact area.
Mariusz Blaszczak, the Polish Minister of National Defense, and Col. Patrick Michaelis, the commander of the Mission Command Element in Poznan, Poland, are among the crowd observing a multinational maneuvering demonstration in Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland.
“Today's training could have only happened with the close coordination between our two nations,” said Michaelis. “It shows the strength of the alliance and our friendship.”
The demonstration featured Soldiers from 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas, and Polish Soldiers with the 12th Mechanized Brigade, 12th Mechanized Division out of Szczecin, Poland participating in a live-fire exercise and a static display of Polish and American armored military vehicles.
The 1st Armored Division Soldiers deployed to Europe at the direction of the Secretary of Defense to exercise the U.S. Army's ability to rapidly alert, recall and deploy under emergency conditions.
“What we have just witnessed was the exercise between the Polish Armed forces and U.S. troops in Drawsko Pomorskie,” said Blaszczak. “This is very important because it shows this was an allied training within the North Atlantic Alliance. The commander of this exercise [Col. Chad Chalfont, commander of 2ABCT] approached me and said this exercise is not organized because the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Poland visited this training arrangement, this is daily training being conducted in Drawsko Pomorskie.”
This exercise highlighted the U.S. and Polish strong partnership, cooperation, and U.S. commitment to the NATO alliance by working closely with each other.
“I have to say that the 12th Brigade is very proud to be a part of this training. Because of the unique training opportunity, we were able to use U.S. military equipment and understand their operational functions,” said Col. Slawomir Dudczak, the commander of the 12th Mechanized Division out of Szczecin, Poland. “We really gained a new experience. I'm very happy that my sub-units will be able to participate in the training for the next seven days to implement new strategies that we have learned over this exercise.”
The Soldiers work together, shoulder to shoulder, to integrate and build stronger relations for future joint exercises.
“Today, three days before the 70th Anniversary of NATO, an alliance we are all committed to, we are well represented by Polish and the U.S. Soldiers that you see,” said Michaelis. “As they sharpen the art and science of putting steel on target, it is a clear expression of combined strength, interoperability and determination. Today's demonstration of the dynamic enforcement of U.S. forces across oceans, across continents without warning and without notice, serves as a demonstration of our capacity, of our mutual commitment, and our mutual resolve...it’s an Atlantic Resolve.”
| Date Taken: | 04.01.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2019 13:15 |
| Story ID: | 316612 |
| Location: | DRAWSKO POMORSKIE, PL |
| Hometown: | FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 501 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Strengthening the alliance one exercise at a time, by SSG Christina Westover, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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