Photo By Staff Sgt. Jasmine McCarthy | Maj. Ryan Hamilton, a field artillery officer with the 1st Cavalry Division Artillery,...... read more read more
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BOLESŁAWIEC, POLAND – A team of planners and staff representatives huddle closely around a map under tan-colored tents in southern Poland. Since earlier this year, the 1st Cavalry Division has been focusing on incorporating lessons learned from Austere Challenge 24, a previous exercise which occurred in March. This month, they faced the challenging task of executing Avenger Triad 24, a U.S. Army Europe and Africa command post exercise with participants from the U.S. Army, NATO, and 10 participating countries including: Estonia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. Maj. Ryan Hamilton, a division field artillery planner with the 1st Cavalry Division Artillery or “Red Team”, arrived at Forward Operating Site Bolesławiec before the exercise to coordinate fire support between the 1st Cavalry Division and the Polish 23rd Field Artillery Regiment of the Polish Army.
Hamilton, a New York native from Saratoga Springs, commissioned in June 2010 from Rochester Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Leadership. Since then, he has deployed on multiple occasions from 2010 to 2014, working as a combat advisor for the Afghan Army. Although Avenger Triad 24 was the first time Hamilton worked with Polish counterparts during an exercise, he believes the universal language of combat overcomes certain barriers.
“It’s about working through the language differences and some of the finer detail, technique, and procedural differences,” said Hamilton. “There’s only one way you can really make the laws of ballistics and achieving effects on enemy forces work.”
Coordinating with Hamilton is Polish Army Col. Ryszard Różycki, Chief of Artillery, with the 11th Armored Cavalry Division. His current role for Avenger Triad 24 is to serve as the acting commander of the 23rd Field Artillery Regiment. Różycki has worked with U.S. forces on a couple of occasions over the years, but this exercise served as a new opportunity for him to work closely with a U.S. counterpart of the same branch.
“My counterpart is a brilliant officer, who helps me understand these procedures utilizing within a division to plan, organize, and provide fire support to division maneuver forces conducting operations,” said Różycki. “I especially like the way the targeting process is planned, executed, and used within a division to plan and create lethal and non-lethal effects. I would like to introduce some of these products in the division where I serve.”
Aside from sharing best practices and knowledge with his counterpart, Różycki reaffirmed his belief on the importance of building interoperability through partnered training with allies.
“I have learned that Poland has a great ally, who we can trust and always count on,” said Różycki. “The ally supports us in keeping the enemy far away from our boundaries.”
As a cold front arrives on the steps of Eastern Europe, Hamilton reflects on his experience with Avenger Triad and, if called upon, the Division’s role in a large-scale combat operation.
“We must know how each other works and be able to understand the differences,” said Hamilton. “Through this, we can help speed up communications in any sort of future requirement, to ensure the defense of Europe and the rest of the world.”
| Date Taken: | 09.18.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.19.2024 03:13 |
| Story ID: | 481148 |
| Location: | BOLESLAWIEC, PL |
| Web Views: | 64 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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