IDF Paratroopers take part in Allied Spirit X drill exercise
"The very existence of the exercise on German soil constitutes the closing of a significant circle," said the Commander of the Reconnaissance Battalion.
By ANNA AHRONHEIMIDF paratroopers take part in Allied Spirit X(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
The Israeli military announced the end of the IDF’s participation in Allied Spirit X, a US Army-Europe army-run multinational exercise in Germany.The IDF sent a delegation of soldiers from the Paratroopers’ elite reconnaissance battalion, the first time the military trained on a battalion level on foreign soil in cooperation with foreign militaries.“The objectives of the exercise were to improve the ability for mutual cooperation between the participating armies, joint learning and the exercise of forces,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement. “During the exercise, the forces trained in combat in various scenarios, while acquiring new techniques and preserving existing skills.”Nearly 1,300 troops from the US military took part and approximately 4,400 troops from allied and partner nations – including Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom – participated, the US Army website reported.The exercise was held from March 30 to April 17, at the US Army’s 7th Army Training Command’s Hohenfels Training Area in southeastern Germany. It was led by Germany’s 1st Armored Division (1AD), which commanded the multinational brigade headquarters.
During the exercise, Israeli soldiers from the Paratrooper’s elite reconnaissance battalion, as well as the Orev company and an infantry unit from the IDF’s Engineering Corps, were trained under foreign battalions: American, German and British, respectively.
Israeli snipers from the IDF’s 35th Paratroopers Brigade took part in drills alongside American snipers from the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.
As part of their stay in Germany, troops took part in educational days in Nuremberg and Regensburg as part of an educational program that emphasizes Holocaust remembrance and heroism as well as about the heritage of the Jewish people.
“A few weeks ago, troops from the Paratroopers’ reconnaissance battalion landed on German soil in preparation for a joint exercise with foreign armies,” said Lt.-Col. Oded Zisman, commander of the Reconnaissance Battalion. “The very existence of the exercise on German soil constitutes the closing of a significant circle and a milestone in the empowerment of the IDF.”
The multinational exercise was directed by US Army Europe, 7th Army Training Command and was “designed to develop and enhance NATO and key partner interoperability and readiness across specified war-fighting functions,” the US Army said, adding that “Allied Spirit X is to stress current multinational communications methods and test the functionality of a brigade-sized element with a multinational configuration.”
Last June, IDF paratroopers took part in the US Army’s European Command’s Swift Response 18 exercise which is held in Europe and drilled with the 173rd Brigade of the European Command of the US Army.In addition to the operational parachute landing of IDF paratroopers onto Polish soil, troops also drilled on an exercise that included shooting and fighting in a variety of settings, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said at the time.
