Cooperative Spirit 2008: One determined Kiwi

A New Zealand Soldier kneels in a safe position during improvised explosive device awareness training Sept. 11 at Hohenfels, Germany.

-- Photo by Spc. Matthew Thompson

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Roll of Honor for Cooperative Spirit '08

The people of Hohenfels, Germany
1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment
2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment
2nd/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
The 1st Welsh Guards Regiment
3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division
5th Battalion, 20 Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division
Charlie Company, 5-158th Aviation Regiment
478th Civil Affairs Battalion (Special Operations) (Airborne)
Utah Army National Guard
5th Public Affairs Detachment (Mobile) Forces Command
Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC)
Headquarters, DOA, G3/5/7, Pentagon, Washington D.C.
Seventh United States Army

On the Web (Washington Post.com)

A photo provided by the U.S. Army Joint Training Command Public Affairs Office on Thursday, Sept. 25 2008 shows soldiers from New Zealand observing their surrounding during a training on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008 at the U.S. Army's Joint Multinational Readiness Center JMRC in Hohenfels, Germany, near the Czech border in eastern Bavaria. Soldiers from the U.S. Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are taking part in the joint exercise of the five English-speaking nations from Sept. 12 to Oct. 5, 2008 designed to help them operate together. The units practice a multitude of situations they'll face once deployed, like extracting targets in door-to-door fighting, dealing with the culture and protocol of Afghan leaders, and how to detect and work around roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices. (AP Photo/U.S. Army Joint Training Command Public Affairs Office, Nicole Munro-Johnson, HO)

What they are saying about us

HEADLINE: > The Canadian Press (CP) News [W7555]> DATE 25-09-08> > The Canadian Press (CP) News [W7555]

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS > > Story: W7555> Source: CP> Date: 25-09-08, 06:37ET > > HOHENFELS, Germany --The language spoken by the soldiers is the same, but knowing English means little without joint training before being thrown into combat together in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That's the idea behind Joint Task Force Exercise Cooperative Spirit 2008, currently under way at the U.S. Army's Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, near the Czech border in eastern Bavaria.

About 2,000 soldiers from the U.S., British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand armies are taking part in the exercise, which began Sept. 12 and ends Oct. 5. The goal is to test the interoperability and in some cases the standardization of processes and equipment of the English speaking nations to work out the kinks before hitting the battlefield, where mistakes are fatal, said Col. Shane Amor, the Washington-based chief of staff of the ABCA Armies, an umbrella organization for the five militaries.

The group was formed in the aftermath of the Second World War by the U.S., Britain and Canada to keep up the close coordination between their armies; Australia joined in 1963 and New Zealand became a formal member in 2006.

``We're training with the coalition so this won't be the first time we see one another,'' the Australian officer told The Associated Press. ``We're looking to see what the capabilities of one another's operations are so we know what each others' strengths are, and use units in the best possible way.''

Amor said that also meant professional observers finding units' weaknesses and correcting them before they deployed to hostile regions. All five countries are currently involved in the conflict in Afghanistan, while U.S., Australia and Britain also have troops in Iraq.

At Hohenfels, units can practice a multitude of situations they'll face once deployed, like extracting targets in door-to-door fighting, dealing with the culture and protocol of Afghan leaders, and how to detect and work around roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices, which have been deployed with lethal effectiveness in Iraq and Afghanistan. Amor said all the armies involved had similar values, but to some extent, different ways of doing business.

``Understanding these differences, mitigating them, and integrating capabilities is essential for effective deployment of forces and achieving mission successes,'' he said. ``The key thing is understanding the different variances in capability; deploying the mission successfully.''

Lt. Col. Greg Allnutt, the commander of about 170 men of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment said that despite the 24-hour flight to Germany, the training has proven invaluable.

His troops are practicing how to take down doors in buildings and decide instantly whether people on the inside are friendly or hostile.

Hohenfels ``has designed lanes for a lot of the skill sets we need to practice,'' he said during an exercise over the weekend.

``We train, make mistakes, and get debriefed by independent experts and go through it again. We didn't come here unprepared, but we're always learning.''

Qs and As (Questions and Answers)

Q1: What is ABCA?
A1: American, British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand Program.

Q2: What is the focus of ABCA?
A2: To achieve interoperability using doctrine, technology, and material solutions to close or mitigate interoperability gaps.

Q3: What is Interoperability?
A3: The ability of allied forces and, when appropriate, forces of Partner and other Nations, to train, exercise and operate together in the execution of assigned missions and tasks.

Q4: Members of ABCA have called each other a coalition. What does that mean?
A4: An organization or common effort created for a limited purpose, and a set time. This concept is not new. The American, British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand have participated in several coalition operations during the twentieth century. It is these nations that stood together during World War II.

Q5: Is ABCA like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)?
A5: No, NATO is an alliance of nations. ABCA is a test to work out problems and find solutions. Each Army has its own equipment, methods and procedures. ABCA attempts to work out solutions that are:
1. Relevant and responsive
2. Standardized, integrated, and achieves interoperability
3. Mutually understood
4. Shares knowledge
5. Efficient and effective

Sunday, September 21, 2008

One determined Kiwi

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