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In U.S. European Command and U.S. Army Europe, theater security cooperation is a cornerstone of military operations. That multinational cooperation includes increasing militaries’ interoperability, strengthening national partnerships and building partner military capacity.
For Soldiers with the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, seizing opportunities to support these efforts is essential to increasing organizational capability and building strong partnerships.
Led by 10th AAMDC Soldiers, command and control systems integrators, and communications professionals with USAREUR, Program Directorate Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar and the Czech Republic armed forces conducted low-level air picture interface training during a bilateral partnership exercise Feb. 18 to 21 at Rhine Ordnance Barracks.
The LLAPI training took place as part of an ongoing effort to standardize equipment interoperability for U.S. and European militaries’ air defense organizations. Since 1999, the training and subsequent testing has been conducted between the U.S. and six European partner nations.
During the four-day event, civilians and Soldiers worked hand-in-hand to learn, train and test their proficiency on LLAPI systems. In combat scenarios, the training will allow military air-defenders to provide early warning of incoming enemy missile threats, enabling air-defense systems to successfully engage and destroy targets more quickly.
The importance of the event extended beyond just the technical aspects of Soldiers behind screens and keyboards.
“The training we’re conducting here not only strengthens U.S. security cooperation efforts, but we’re directly supporting the U.S. EUCOM goal of building NATO partner capacity,” said Robert Gibbs, senior engineer analyst with Program Directorate C-RAM. Program Directorate C-RAM is the organization that assists in coordinating the automations and technical aspects of the partnered training.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Paul Bandel, command and control systems integrator with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 10th AAMDC, and planner-participant, described the training event as just the beginning of an enduring partnership between the 10th AAMDC and the Czech Republic’s army’s ground-based air defense force.
“This is just the first event. In the future, we’re planning to have more exercises of different size and scope here and in the Czech Republic,” Bandel said.
