Courtesy Photo | Staff Sgt. Chris Martin from the U.S. Army 192nd EOD Battalion observes for any...... read more read more
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5TH CANADIAN DIVISION SUPPORT BASE GAGETOWN, New Brunswick, Canada – Exercise Ardent Defender, a multinational counter explosive threat training exercise, came to a close at the 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown in New Brunswick, Canada, Oct. 4.
American Soldiers from the Fort Bragg, North Carolina-based 192nd Ordnance Battalion (EOD) trained with EOD technicians from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom during the exercise.
The 192nd EOD Battalion “Renegades” are part of the 52nd EOD Group and 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. Department of Defense’s premier all hazards command.
Soldiers and U.S. Army civilians from 20th CBRNE Command deploy from 19 bases in 16 states to confront and defeat the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, interagency and allied operations around the world.
More than 270 troops from nine nations participated in Exercise Ardent Defender with support from more than 100 planners and support staff personnel.
Canadian Armed Forces Cpl. Logan Laferriere from the 2nd Combat Engineer Squadron, 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, said the training scenarios were accurate.
“Realistic training scenarios with real time intelligence being gathered processed and disseminated back to the task force created a much more complete threat picture and more contextual training,” said Laferriere.
Cpl. Yannick Naud, from the same Petawawa, Ontario, Canada-based squadron, said the exercise enabled him to observe how other nations tackle similar scenarios.
“Training with and observing other countries' tactics, techniques and procedures while conducting route security patrols give the operator a more well-rounded understanding of different disruption and render safe capabilities and tools to bring back and possibly integrate into their own training,” said Naud.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Lewis M. Wilson from the Fort Bragg, North Carolina-based 767th EOD Company served as an assistant range safety officer. He said U.S. Army EOD technicians honed their lifesaving and mission-enabling skills during the exercise.
“There are several benefits to American teams coming to this exercise,” said Wilson, who is from Fort Washington, Maryland and has deployed in support of the Immediate Response Force during his 12 years in the U.S. Army. “We get to practice our procedures in an unknown environment, which for us, keeps us on our toes and keeps us vigilant.”
Wilson said the exercise was a great opportunity to forge stronger bonds and greater interoperability with NATO allies.
“We get to foster multinational relationships with our NATO allies,” said Wilson. “We also get to refine our interoperability and joint taskings on a national platform.”
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Luke A. Johnson, the 192nd EOD Battalion Operations noncommissioned officer-in-charge, served as the acting sergeant major for the 42nd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron, the allied squadron established for the exercise that included 14 EOD teams and three engineer search teams from nine nations.
Originally from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Johnson has been in the U.S. Army for 15 years and deployed to Afghanistan twice. He became an Army EOD tech because of the focus on critical thinking against a dynamic and changing threat.
“I’ve learned the differences in how other countries develop and employ EOD Soldiers,” said Johnson. “I have learned how other NATO engineer search teams operate, which has led to ideas about how to improve working relationships between U.S. EOD and engineer forces.”
According to Johnson, American and allied EOD techs tackled a wide variety of improvised explosive device or IED scenarios based on real enemy intelligence during the exercise.
Johnson added that the exercise caused his EOD technicians to challenge their assumptions and think of new ways of confronting and defeating explosive devices.
“Exercises like Ardent Defender are critical because they strengthen our ability to operate in a joint or interagency environment,” said Johnson. “They force us to think or operate differently and to have an open mind to problem solving rather than resorting to our own limited experiences and typical solutions. They allow us to take home new ideas to better our own organizations.”
Capt. Edward E. Clukey, the assistant operations officer for the Fort Bragg, North Carolina-based 192nd Ordnance Battalion (EOD), served as the 42nd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron commander during the exercise. Clukey said the EOD and search teams formed strong teams.
“EOD teams learned new techniques and procedures from their counterparts while the EOD squadron staff integrated with higher echelons within the Combined Joint Task Force to synchronize reporting efforts and the flow of critical information across the battlefield,” said Clukey, adding that one of the biggest learning points from the exercise was how to successfully integrate multinational EOD teams with search teams.
The exercise squadron commander said the allied EOD technicians worked seamlessly together and leveraged their collective experience to improve all of the EOD teams at the exercise.
“For me, the highlight of this exercise has been watching the Soldiers from every country work together to solve difficult problems,” said Clukey. “EOD teams here are highly skilled in their own respects and watching them eagerly spread their knowledge across the formation to fellow EOD technicians was hugely rewarding.”
A Helotes, Texas, native and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, Clukey said he chose to serve in the U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal profession because of the people in the community.
“EOD Soldiers and noncommissioned officers are consummate professionals and technical experts in their profession,” said Clukey. “We all take tremendous pride in what we do and always challenge each other to be better. Working with these Soldiers every day makes the job not only exciting but also exceptionally rewarding at the same time.”
| Date Taken: | 10.04.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.04.2022 16:00 |
| Story ID: | 430705 |
| Location: | 5TH CANADIAN DIVISION SUPPORT BASE GAGETOWN, NEW BRUNSWICK, CA |
| Hometown: | PETAWAWA, ONTARIO, CA |
| Hometown: | FORT WASHINGTON, MARYLAND, US |
| Hometown: | HELOTES, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | ST. CROIX, VI |
| Web Views: | 230 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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