{"id":487318,"date":"2025-06-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=487318"},"modified":"2025-06-21T00:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T00:10:10","slug":"illinois-army-national-guard-trains-with-polish-territorial-defence-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=487318","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Army National Guard trains with Polish Territorial Defence Force"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n U.S. Army Sgt. Joseline Sosa, a forward observer with 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard, relays information to her Polish counterparts during training in remote observation techniques in Toru\u0144, Poland, June 6, 2025. The Illinois National Guard and Poland are partners in the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program, which pairs Guard elements with partner nations worldwide for mutual training and subject matter expert exchanges. Servicemembers with the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team are spending two weeks alongside their Polish counterparts training on sniper operations, the Javelin anti-tank weapon system, combat medical care, and remote observer techniques.
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TORU\u0143, Poland \u2014 Soldiers with the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Illinois Army National Guard, recently spent two weeks in Tor\u00fan, Poland, training alongside members of the Polish Territorial Defence Force.<\/p>\n

Since 1993, the Illinois National Guard and Poland have been partners in the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program \u2014 an initiative that pairs Guard elements with partner nations worldwide for joint military training and subject matter expert exchanges.<\/p>\n

The recent two-week training focused on sniper operations, combat medical care, the Javelin anti-tank weapon system and remote observer techniques.<\/p>\n

For the sniper teams, the goal was to strengthen leadership skills in employing and overseeing sniper sections as well as developing advanced sniper expertise.<\/p>\n

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\n U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Bruno Rios, a cavalry scout with C Troop, 2nd Battalion, 106th Cavalry Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard, confirms that the weapon of his Polish counterpart is clear of ammunition following the completion of a shooting drill at a range near Toru\u0144, Poland, June 7, 2025. The Illinois National Guard and Poland are partners in the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program, which pairs Guard elements with partner nations worldwide for mutual training and subject matter expert exchanges. Servicemembers with the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team are spending two weeks alongside their Polish counterparts training on sniper operations, the Javelin anti-tank weapon system, combat medical care, and remote observer techniques.
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\u201cOur goal as a training team is to ensure we are equipping the Polish snipers with the tools to employ themselves against drones and thermal environments,\u201d said Sgt. 1st Class Hussein Mashal, an infantryman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard. \u201cBy merging our techniques with theirs and the lessons learned from the Ukrainian war, we hope to strengthen their sniper employment capabilities and survivability.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the medical realm, Soldiers with the Illinois Army Guard\u2019s C Company, 634th Brigade Support Battalion, shared casualty care treatment procedures \u2014 from the point of injury to the final point of care.<\/p>\n

This iteration included complex training scenarios that allowed participants to triage and evaluate casualties in a realistic, stressful simulated combat environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always worth it working with the National Guard,\u201d said Polish TDF 2nd Lt. Jakub Piotrowski, a medical team member and instructor. \u201cWe do the same things in different ways so it\u2019s worthwhile to see how a different army is doing the same thing and then be able to cooperate with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Rojas, a cavalry scout with C Troop, 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard, observes as a Polish Territorial Defence soldier engages targets on a range near Toru\u0144, Poland, June 7, 2025. The Illinois National Guard and Poland are partners in the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program, which pairs Guard elements with partner nations worldwide for mutual training and subject matter expert exchanges. Servicemembers with the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team are spending two weeks alongside their Polish counterparts training on sniper operations, the Javelin anti-tank weapon system, combat medical care, and remote observer techniques.
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Javelin instructors echoed that sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Polish soldiers were extremely motivated and eager to learn,\u201d said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas Broden, a training noncommissioned officer with C Company, 1st Bn., 178th Inf. Regt. \u201cThey were always asking questions and were very hands on with the equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous training exchanges meant many of the Polish soldiers already had foundational knowledge of the Javelin systems. That allowed the training to advance quickly to more strategic and tactical discussions, said Broden.<\/p>\n

For the forward observer teams \u2014 or remote observers \u2014 the focus was on establishing the fundamental skills for indirect fire coordination, a capability the TDF is actively strengthening as they expand artillery capabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started off pretty basic with basic call for fire and then basic joint fires observer skills,\u201d said U.S. Army Master Sgt. William Aitken, an operations NCO with the 33rd IBCT. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of an abbreviated forward observer program for the TDF.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n U.S. Army Sgt. Joseline Sosa, a forward observer with 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard, receives information from her Polish counterparts during training on remote observer techniques in Toru\u0144, Poland, June 6, 2025. The Illinois National Guard and Poland are partners in the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program, which pairs Guard elements with partner nations worldwide for mutual training and subject matter expert exchanges. Servicemembers with the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team are spending two weeks alongside their Polish counterparts training on sniper operations, the Javelin anti-tank weapon system, combat medical care, and remote observer techniques.
\n (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Amber Peck)<\/span>
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The training also included high tech capabilities \u2014 such as employing small drones \u2013 combined with improvised concealment techniques to help Polish soldiers observe from a distance while staying hidden. The team practiced setting up hasty observation posts, coordinating drone feeds with command elements, and minimizing visual and electronic signatures \u2014 skills directly influenced by lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Overall, the training helped strengthen and continue the 30-plus year partnership.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur partnership with Poland, which began in 1993 and included 19 years of co-deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, is the gold standard of deployments,\u201d said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Lenny Williams, the Illinois National Guard\u2019s assistant adjutant general for Army. \u201cWe learn, we teach and we develop new tactics and techniques together with each critical knowledge exchange event. Our capabilities have improved, we\u2019ve expanded our capacity and our partnership has grown even stronger the past two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Links<\/h5>\n

The Official Website of the National Guard | NationalGuard.mil<\/a><\/p>\n

The National Guard on Facebook | Facebook.com\/TheNationalGuard<\/a><\/p>\n

The National Guard on X | X.com\/USNationalGuard<\/a><\/p>\n

State Partnership Program | NationalGuard.mil<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Army Sgt. Joseline Sosa, a forward observer with 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard, relays information to her Polish counterparts during training in remote observation techniques in Toru\u0144, Poland, June 6, 2025. The Illinois National Guard and Poland are partners in the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487320,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-487318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=487318"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":487325,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487318\/revisions\/487325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/487320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=487318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=487318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=487318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}