U.S. Army troops under Task Force Marne have joined allied elements of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group Poland in a combined arms live-fire exercise for interoperability at Bemowo Piskie Training Area in eastern Poland. NATO partners participating in the exercise, scheduled from Feb. 20 to March 1, include the United Kingdom, Romania, Croatia and Poland.
The exercise proceeded as the first multinational interoperability activity for the military service’s 2nd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division since their September arrival in Poland. Army Maj. Alexander Boroff, battalion operations officer, said the exercise also involved British reconnaissance, Croatian field artillery and Romanian air defense artillery.
According to the U.S. Army, CALFEX enables the American troops to test their full combat capabilities while training with allies in simulated battles involving various weapons, vehicle systems and tactics.
During the exercise, the eFP Poland troops joined in large breaching maneuvers, while American engineers cleared obstacles and tracked vehicles blocked simulated enemy forces for the allied forces to clear the adversaries’ trenches.
Boroff praised the U.S. allies’ capabilities and their excitement to train with the Americans. With the interconnection the allied troops have established, “it really comes together to be a good exercise in interoperability,” he said.