European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 1, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday april 12007 stars and stripes Page 3 task Force 3rd battalion 158th aviation regiment is preparing for deployment an exercise at the joint multinational readiness Center includes Apache Black Hawk and Chinook helps and thousands of participating personnel thousands swarm at the Box in Hohenfels Byset Robson stars and stripes Hohenfels Germany More than 6000 headed for Iraq or Afghanistan Are participating in one of the largest Mission rehearsal exercise at the joint multinational readiness Center the personnel includes More than 4000 troops from the Ira bound 12th combat aviation brigade and the Afghani Sta bound 173rd airborne brigade it also includes 1st infantry division Mil itary transition teams headed to Afghani Stan troops from Poland Bulgaria and Afghanistan plus police and staff from a com Bat surgical Hospital according to joint multinational training command spokes Man maj Eric Bloom the exercise began last week and ends tuesday on thursday a 3rd battalion 158th Avia Tion regiment task Force of Black Hawk Apache and Chinook helicopters swarmed like angry bees Over the Box training area at Hohenfels hundreds of soldiers from 1st battalion 503rd infantry first Rock air assaulted from the Black Hawks which zoomed in just above the treetops and swooped into Landing zones to drop off the troops battalion commander it col Mike Fen Zel said the air assault prepares his sol Diers for operations in Afghanistan there Are not a lot of effective roads there so the ability to conduct air assault operations All the Way up to battalion level is critical he said As his men prepared to search a Large area where first Rock would conduct operations and interact with role players acting As civilians on the Battlefield while the soldiers set up checkpoints and stopped suspicious vehicles on roads in the training area the 12th cab helicopters circled overhead in a show of Force that would have deterred All but the most fanatical insurgent role players task Force 3158 Black Hawk Pilot capt it col James r Macklin commander of 3rd bait Alison 158th aviation regiment Points out a landmark during a practice air assault Mission soldiers from 1st battalion 503rd infantry regiment air assaulted into the Box training area at Hohenfels on thursday morning photos by Seth Rosson i stars and stripes James tipple 27 of Santa Ana Calif said hed flown four missions during the exer Cise As of thursday including an air As Sault with polish troops we rehearsed it so they knew very Well what was going on i feel confident about working with the polish in Iraq said tip ple who served there in 2004 maj Brian Hoff the 12th cab operations officer said the 3158 task Force includes six apaches six chinooks 14 Black Hawks and two medical evacuation Heli copters because of the need to interact with the 173rd the 12th cab forces Are using afghan names for the towns and villages used in the exercise however the aviators Are practising the techniques tactics and procedures they will use in Iraq for example they Are training to per form Complex attacks which Are common in Iraq instead of going after targets of Opportunity the Way they would in Afghani Stan Hoff said Jarc observer controller maj Brian Hammer 39 of Houston said the Large number of units soldiers and role players in the exercise is a Challenge for the people running it usually you get one unit that comes Here with one focus so from a training perspective this is unique he said email Seth Robson at to our readers Terri Barnes has a lifetime of experience to share with Fel Low military spouses starting today she will offer insights and gamer feedback from readers in spouse Calls her new weekly column in stars and stripes scene Sec Tion readers will submit questions to Barnes and she Wol re Spond with answers advice Etc in her column questions can be submitted to new unit exercise pushes envelope Hohenfels Germany the 173rd air borne brigade is the first of the army new modular brigade combat teams to train in Europe for a downrange Mission joint multinational training command spokesman maj Eric Bloom said trainers have transformed the Way they run Mission rehearsal exercises to Cater to the new Type of unit for example the joint multinational Readi Ness Center at Hohenfels has developed train ing for the 173rds new special troops Battal Ion a unit that was formed when the Bri Gade transformed earlier this year during the exercise 173rd units have fanned out around eight us and German training areas in Bavaria with artillery train ing at Grafe Wohr and cavalry at Schweinfurt and German military operations in Urban terrain or Mout site the training also includes an air assault into the bad re Chenhall training area at 10000 feet in the German Alps to simulate the High Altitude conditions in Afghanistan Bloom said the exercise covers a Large area that replicates regional command East in Afghani Stan it relies on a mrs exportable instrumentation systems which allow cameras and sen sors to record action at Remote Sites and beam it Back to observer controller teams at Hohen Fels for use in after action reviews he said to add realism to the exercise the army contracted for 500 arabic speakers while the 173rd was originally slated to de ploy to Iraq it is now going to Afghanistan however it was too late to change the con tract now to help the soldiers understand afghan culture the army has brought in extra Pash Tun cultural advisers to participate Bloom said Seth Robson
