Photo By Sgt. Casandra Ancheta | From left, Brian Hayes, a regional security officer for the U.S. Consulate General in...... read more read more
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HOHENFELS, Germany – Members of the U.S. Department of State participated in the U.S. Army exercise Combined Resolve 18 in Hohenfels, Germany, May 3-5, 2023.
Combined Resolve 18 is a multi-national U.S. Army exercise consisting of 4,000 service members, allies and partners.
Having members of the Department of State participate in a large-scale military exercise provides opportunities to learn how to do their job in a combat environment. They also learn how to interact with military units and leaders.
“If we were to fight a war, a large-scale combat operation in Europe, we would have other agencies of the U.S. government also involved as part of a whole government team to try to achieve the U.S. government's strategic objectives,” said Eric Kotouc, the interagency training coordinator for the Joint Multinational Readiness Center. “We need to recreate that part of the operating environment for our units that are training here.”
Members of the Department of State had the role of assisting U.S. citizens and getting them to safety during the exercise.
“The State Department specifically is thinking about how to help Americans that are caught up in this conflict area and working to evacuate them to a safer place,” said Kotouc.
Aside from being responsible for U.S. citizens in the area, the Department of State is also valuable as a source of local political, economic and cultural information about the environment they are in, which can aid military leaders.
“They are also here to do reporting and understand what is going on in terms of the political and security environment, as well as some other parts of the economic and social environment,” said Kotouc. “By virtue of being involved in that dynamic, it gives them a role in facilitating when the military arrives.”
During Combined Resolve 18 the State Department team consisted of two consular specialists, a political military officer and a regional security officer. Following them was Jeanette Rébert, an observer/controller (OC) that guided them through different scenarios and challenges.
“My role here as the OC is to help run the scenarios that we planned for the State Department team and observe how the participants react to various situations and challenges,” said Rébert who is also a consular section chief at the U.S. Consulate General in Munich.
Rebert mentions one of the challenges for the State Department team is learning how to effectively interact, work and share valuable information with the military.
“We can help inform the military on what to expect in terms of the civil environment they are coming into,” said Rébert. “It is extremely useful for the State Department to learn how to talk to the military, learn each other's lingos and jargon and provide them with information they need so that it is not all overwhelming in a real-life scenario.”
On the other end of the spectrum, having the Department of State in these exercises provides the military a similar training opportunity to learn how to work with civilian government agencies.
“We are very focused on making sure it is realistic training that prepares our Soldiers for things they might actually face in the future,” said Kotouc. “We feel like there is a realistic chance that in a conflict in Europe, our military personnel would be exposed to dealing with the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development and The International Committee of the Red Cross.”
Learning how to work together can be beneficial for both the Department of State and military especially during a crisis situation like a combat zone.
“When they can coordinate on things like security issues and manage to work together for the movement of civilians, that interface is where the training value lies on both sides, and that is what we are really focused on,” said Kotouc.
Kotouc hopes every exercise continues to include government organizations like the Department of State in order to provide mutual training value to both civilians and the military.
“I am very confident the momentum we have is strong and the partnership we have developed is stable and concrete,” said Rébert. “I think with their cooperation and support there is every reason to believe that we will be able to continue this in the coming years.”
| Date Taken: | 05.03.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.07.2023 11:07 |
| Story ID: | 444151 |
| Location: | HOHENFELS, DE |
| Web Views: | 320 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Government Workers on the Battlefield During Combined Resolve 18, by SGT Casandra Ancheta, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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