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U.S., Polish paratroopers jump into joint exercise

by Spc. Adrian Schulte

VINCENZA, Italy (Army News Service, June 9, 2003) -- Paratroopers from the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force and the Polish 6th Airborne Brigade parachuted into Poland during the night of June 6 in the opening phase of Exercise Immediate Response '03.

This operation is primarily a computer-assisted command post exercise lasting through June 10. The airborne assault simulated the seizure of an airbase for the introduction of additional U.S. forces, officials said.

Two aircraft, one Polish and one American, dropped about 50 paratroopers, allowing the soldiers from the two armies to exchange jump wings. Six Polish airborne, who jumped from the American C-130, had to adjust their exiting procedures to coincide with their American counterparts.

"Whenever we jump, as soon as the jump master gives the go, everybody immediately goes and follows each other out," explained Staff Sgt. Ronald Samia, SETAF communications chief who earned his senior parachutist badge on the jump. "The Polish soldiers jump totally differently than we do so we had to do a lot of rehearsals. One thing they do is an individual tap out. Each soldier will stand in the door and wait for a tap out. So we had to try and get that out of their routine for the jump."

Following the airborne insertion, soldiers from SETAF and the Polish 6th Airborne Brigade immediately began establishing the forward command and control headquarters and preparing for the arrival of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade forces that will be needed during the non-combatant evacuation, or NEO exercise, which simulates the evacuation of American citizens from a potentially hostile environment.

Immediate response '03 is part of the Military Cooperation Initiative aunched between the U.S. and Poland in 2002 to enhance capabilities for future bilateral, coalition or alliance operations, officials said.

The purpose of Immediate Response '03 is to enhance joint and combined nteroperability, conduct bilateral training with a partner nation and exercise command and control functions from distributed locations during a NEO exercise. The main exercise participants are the headquarters unit of SETAF, elements of the Polish 6th Airborne Brigade and the 2nd brigade of the U.S. 1st ID.

Crossing cultural boundaries, soldiers from both countries said they are gaining valuable experiences during the exercise.

"It has been interesting," said Pvt. Edwin Zerpa, 13th Military Police company. "We are learning from each other as far as culture and language and how they operate militarily. It will be and has already been a worthwhile experience."

Polish soldiers are embracing the experience to work with their American counterparts.

"It is very exciting working with the Americans. I've never had the opportunity to work with them," said Pvt. Milewski Maciej, Polish 2nd Mechanized Brigade. "It lets me work on my English and we are getting to do a lot of things that we don't usually do."

(Editor's note: Spc. Adrian Schulte is a member of SETAF Public Affairs.)