The Army News Service reports that about 30 trainers from the Army's Combined Maneuver Training Center (CMTC) at Hohenfels, Germany deployed to the Wedrzyn Training Area in Poland to train US and Polish paratroopers.  Most likely, the training was for pre—deployment exercises prior to being deployed to the Central Region.  The exercises took place at the Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) site, where local Polish citizens played the role of Civilians on the Battlefield (COB).

It is significant that the trainers took along a deployable version of the instrumentation gear that allows leaders to conduct detailed after action reviews where participants view exactly where they were located on the battlefield, and who were 'killed' and under what circumstances.  The system is so precise that it can specify what type of wounds the soldier received to provide realistic training for the medics.

We can only hope that this is a preview of things to come for a closer relationship between the US and Poland, especially for training of our military forces.  In addition to the political strains between the US and Germany over the Iraq War, over the years, the Germans have placed more and more land off limits for training to US forces in Europe — even in the designated maneuver area of Hohenfels!  Poland has far better training areas with few restrictions, which allows US armored and mechanized infantry forces to maximize the capabilities of their Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.

It's time to wave Auf Wiedersehn, and move East.

Posted by Douglas Hanson   09—29—04