u.s. army europe brigades wrapping up multinational
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U.S. Army Europe brigades wrapping up multinationaltraining to prepare for upcoming deploymentsMarch 21, 2012
By U.S. Army Europe Public Affairs
HEIDELBERG, Germany -- Soldiers with U.S. Army Europe’s 173rd Airborne BrigadeCombat Team and elements of USAREUR’s 12th Combat Aviation Brigade will wrap up aMission Rehearsal Exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels,Germany, March 24.
The three-week exercise is a multinational training event designed to help the brigadesprepare for their upcoming combat tours in Afghanistan by simulating the environmentand events they are likely to encounter while deployed. The training keys on developingcombat skills and counterinsurgency tactics.
It also gave U.S. forces a chance to build multinational partnerships, through participation by units from Albania,Bosnia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. Bulgaria provided thelargest number of non-U.S. participants, a group of more than 400 troops who gave their USAREUR colleagues anopportunity to gain greater experience in training and fighting alongside a partner force. Other multinational trainingevents during the MRE included interaction with soldiers from the Czech Republic training to deploy as a ProvincialReconstruction Team that will work with Afghan provincial governments to deliver essential services and developmentprojects, and air assault training involving helicopters from the 12th CAB and the Bulgarian and German militaries.
One significant event of the MRE was the 173rd’s opportunity to be one of the first Army units to completepredeployment training with some of the Army’s newest equipment designed to provide secure operational power todeployed forces. As part of the Army's Net Zero Operational Energy program, the 173rd's "Sky Soldiers" learned tooperate and maintain multiple hybrid-power management systems such as the new Advanced Medium Mobile Electric
Power Source generator and the Rucksack Enhanced Portable Power System, a wearable solar power kit that providespower and charges batteries. (Related story)
The Department of Defense officially announced the brigades’ deployments March 15, as part of the upcoming springrotation of U.S. forces.
For more exercise photos, visit the U.S. Army Europe Flickr page.
About us: U.S. Army Europe is uniquely positioned to advance American strategic interests across Eurasia and hasunparalleled capability to prevent conflict, shape the environment and, if necessary, win decisively. The relationships webuild during more than 1000 theater security cooperation events in more than 40 countries each year lead directly tosupport for multinational contingency operations around the world, strengthen regional partnerships, and enhanceglobal security.