Task Force Marne, NATO Allies build interoperability during combined arms live-fire exercise in Poland

BEMOWO PISKIE, Poland — U.S. Army Soldiers from Task Force Marne and fellow Allied troops from NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group Poland (eFP Poland) trained shoulder-to-shoulder to build interoperability in a combined arms live-fire exercise at Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, that runs Feb. 20 to March 1.

Infantry, armor, and artillery assets from the 3rd Infantry Division, alongside their NATO Allies from the United Kingdom, Romania, Croatia, and Poland participated in the massive combined arms live-fire exercise (CALFEX). A CALFEX provides troops the opportunity to employ the full spectrum of combat capabilities while training alongside Allies and other units in simulated combat scenarios with a wide range of weapons, vehicle systems, and tactics.

Troops with eFP Poland participated in large breaching exercises which saw U.S. engineers clearing obstacles while tracked vehicles suppressed simulated enemy positions and armor as infantry moved to clear enemy trenches.

This CALFEX represented the first iteration of a multinational combined arms exercise led by 2nd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division since the unit arrived in Poland in September. The exercise incorporated British reconnaissance, Croatian field artillery, and Romanian air defense artillery, according to U.S. Army Maj. Alexander Boroff, the battalion’s operations officer.

“What’s great about our Allies is that they’re all very capable,” Boroff said. “It was refreshing to come out here and see all of them as excited to train as the U.S. Army is. When we do these battle group live fires, you have expectations of how our allies will interact with our American units. When they mesh together, it really comes together to be a good exercise in interoperability.”

U.S. and NATO Allied commanders had to come together to plan the exercise and execute the mission, which incorporated engineers, infantrymen, tanks, and anti-air assets, among many other units and capabilities into the tasks.

“All the planning and preparation that went into the combined arms exercise was amazing,” Capt. Tevin Edmonds, commander of Bravo “Bad” Company, 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, said. “Getting to see their different perspectives from their own specific jobs then coming together and making one solid plan that we were able to execute was amazing.”

The CALFEX allowed U.S. Soldiers and NATO Allies to train alongside one another while learning more about each other’s equipment and tactics and how they would operate in real-world scenarios. The CALFEX provided an opportunity to strengthen the Allied countries’ unity and interoperability, despite each nation having different standards and procedures.

“Integrating all of that together and taking into account each nation’s separate safety responsibilities just makes it a challenge [from] the planning perspective for training,” Boroff said. “However, once you kind of work through all that, you come out with a great outcome.”