Photo By Staff Sgt. John Schoebel | NATO soldiers from 16 different countries paddle their canoes down river during Baltic...... read more read more
Subscribe
ADAZI, Latvia - U.S. Soldiers alongside NATO allies competed in Baltic Warrior 23, the largest military endurance race in the Baltic Theater on May 12, 2023.
Hosted by the Canadian army, over 240 two person teams from 16 NATO ally countries from Albania, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Kingdom and the United States competed in the event with the support of 170 staff on hand.
“Exercise Baltic Warrior is the largest military endurance race in the Baltics,” said Canadian army Capt. David Hamilton, an operations officer and Baltic Warrior event organizer. “It is a Canadian National Support element led event and we run it every six months.”
Baltic Warrior is a military endurance race that begins on the Adazi Military Base. The event consisted of a 16 km ruck march with a mix of asphalt, gravel and sandy roads through the training area and Adazi community, followed by a 1 km portage from the end of foot march, down to the Gauja River where competitors then paddle a canoe through 16 km of the winding Gauja river down to the sea and finished with a 500 meter sprint across the soft-sandy beach in the Gulf of Riga.
“It meant a lot for me personally to bring my company up here to do this,” said U.S. Army Capt. Bradley Townsend, the Carnivore Company commander assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. “It is incredible to represent our Battle Group and see everything that is going on across NATO with the nations taking part.”
For many U.S. Soldiers, it was their first time taking part in an event like this.
“Baltic Warrior was an excellent opportunity for NATO allies to come together and do a friendly competition,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Tristin Waldie, an infantryman squad leader assigned to Carnivore Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. “This is a nice opportunity for me personally to get to know everybody out here, which is more nations than I would have ran into if I didn’t do this event.”
Baltic Warrior is designed to challenge participants on more than just their physical abilities, but also in mental toughness and team communication. Although there were challenges, multiple participants managed to work past it.
“For me, the hardest part was the canoe,” said Waldie. “Working together to communicate who will paddle on which side while avoiding the shallow water areas, as well as other teams, was the hardest part,”
Many of the competitors agreed that the canoe portion of Baltic Warrior was difficult.
“When you’re rucking, you can really speed up or slow down,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas Rizzo, the Apache Company first sergeant assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. “But in the canoe, you’re just rowing the boat all the way down the river; your shoulders just get worked.”
After the completion of the endurance race, the 1-9 CAV Soldiers who participated in the race reflected on their experience and performance.
“I had a fantastic time and would love to come back,” said Waldie. “This event really showed me how much we can do together, how physically fit every country in NATO is and how beautiful Latvia as a country really is.”
After spectating, Townsend was also very pleased with the event and the multinational participation.
“It was a great event with a great depth of soldiers here,” said Townsend. “It is great to see everybody enjoy some food together at the end before we move on to the next mission.”
As the awards ceremony and barbeque wrapped up, Hamilton was able to look back on the successful day
“We had a great day out,” said Hamilton. I am very happy and thankful to the 170 staff helping today, this event couldn’t have happened without them.”
| Date Taken: | 05.12.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.24.2023 08:47 |
| Story ID: | 445402 |
| Location: | ĀDAžI, LV |
| Web Views: | 741 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, U.S. Soldiers Take Part in Semi-annual Baltic Warrior Endurance Competition, by SSG John Schoebel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
