Canada integrates neighbors for CS08

Sgt. Bryan W. Lewis

HOHENFELS, Germany, Sept. 12, 2008 – The Canadian army began integrating U.S. Soldiers into their units, starting with 4th Platoon, H Company, 2nd Royal Canadian Regiment, Sept. 12 as part of ABCA’s process to strengthen the interoperability between the nations involved.

The ABCA Armies’ Program is a 60-year-old program involving armies from America, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, focused on the challenges associated with their current operating environment. The American and Canadian armies have taken a new step to meeting these challenges by intermixing Soldiers together during their time at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center.

Pte. Gerry Ramier, an infantry Soldier from 4th Platoon, H Company, 2nd Royal Canadian Regiment, said, “Our mission statement…is to gain knowledge from all of the other countries that are here…to see how their stuff runs, how they like to get everything done, and vice versa, have them learn from us and to be able to react to each other.”

“Our mission is to be integrated with them (the Canadian army) and assist them in tactical questioning on the spot and gathering intelligence information,” said Sgt. Devin J. Hinds, a human intelligence collector with the 209th Military Intelligence Company, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

Developing new relations is a major goal of the ABCA Program. Everything from relations between Soldiers, all the way up to the relationships between armies of different countries are affected by the training that will go on while at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center.

For some Soldiers on both sides, Cooperative Spirit 2008 will be the first time they will get to interact with Soldiers from other countries. Cooperative Spirit 2008 is a chance to improve interoperability of different armies.

4th Platoon, H Company, 2nd Royal Canadian Regiment integrated three Soldiers from the 209th Military Intelligence Company, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division starting with their Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) training.

Hinds said, “It’s very rewarding to find out about not only our cultural differences by getting to know them but also it helps knowing how they differ tactically.”

Ramier added after conducting MOUT training, “Being able to watch you guys (American Soldiers) do your entry drills and then you guys watching us do our entry drills, and then integrating both of them together was awesome.”

The time the Soldiers of these two armies spend together training is strengthening relations between countries and opens Soldiers up to new cultural experiences. They are able to observe each other, ask questions, and notice similarities and differences.

Spc. Brooke N. Weikle, a human intelligence collector with the 209th Military Intelligence Company, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, said, ”They’re not a whole lot different from us at all. They pretty much use the same idioms we do, and they sound like we do.”

Hinds said, “They’re very inquisitive. We worked together trying to figure out each others’ rank structure.”

Other Soldiers, like Master Cpl. Tim Brown from 4th Platoon, H Company, 2nd Royal Canadian Army, are able to compare the opportunities of working with American Soldiers during deployments and during Cooperative Spirit 2008. After Brown explained his enjoyment from working with American Soldiers during a deployment, he was asked how he thinks the same deployment would have gone if he had received the training he is going through at Cooperative Spirit 2008 prior to working with American Soldiers.

“It would make things effective quicker, because now I’m not sort of blindsided. I wouldn’t be hesitant. I know how they work and how they operate. This should go smooth,” said Brown.

With Cooperative Spirit 2008 in only its beginning stages, the internal bonds of brotherhood in units are quickly stretching out in leaps and bounds to those in units of a different country.

“I’ve already talked to a couple people about where they live and how far they are from Fort Lewis, Washington,” said Hinds. “I definitely see some friendships developing.”

Ramier said, “I’m just hoping to meet some good people. Hopefully someday we’ll be able to run into each other on the battlefield and have confidence fighting alongside them.”