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. A Dragoon is a Soldier who typically rode into battle on horseback, but dismounted and fought on foot once he reached the front line.

Dragoon Ride

More than 400 Soldiers assigned to U.S. Army Europe's 2d Cavalry Regiment completed a historic 1,100 mile road march across Eastern Europe 01 April 2015. The road march, dubbed Operation Dragoon Ride, began as Stryker Armored Vehicles driving from Estonia, Lithuania and Poland towards the unit's home base at Rose Barracks.

All three convoys of vehicles converged in the Czech Republic and then, together, continued home. Altogether the convoy consisted of approximately 100 vehicles and included around 60 Stryker Armored Vehicles. In addition to the Soldiers of 2d Cav. Regt., Soldiers from 4th Infantry Division's Mission Command Element, from Fort Carson, Colorado, provided oversight and assistance throughout the operation. Helicopters from the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, Army logisticians from the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, NATO jets and U.S. Air Force assets also assisted in the mission's success.

Operation Dragoon Ride's vehicles began marching home on March 21, marking the effort to showcase NATO unity and solidarity the longest vehicular road march by U.S. forces in Eastern Europe since World War II.

The 2nd Cavalry Regiment participated in Saber Strike 16/Dragoon Ride II from May 27 through June 22, 2016. Soldiers with the Regiment conducted Dragoon Ride II, a vehicle road march using Stryker Combat Vehicles and support vehicles from Rose Barracks, Germany, to Tapa, Estonia, May 27 through June 15, 2016. The convoy will demonstrate the ability to rapidly move a regiment-sized convoyed along two routes and through six countries; covering more than 2,400 kilometers.

Throughout the 17-day movement, 2CR stopped in each country along the route to conduct multinational training exercises with their allied forces, including tactical river crossings with German forces near Weiden an der Oberpfalz, Germany, and Polish forces near Torun, Poland. Joint field exercises will occur in Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Saber Strike 16 in conjunction with Dragoon Ride II provides the opportunity to combine assets and units from 13 nations, for a total of 10,000 Soldiers to demonstrate NATO's strength, Alliance interoperability and freedom of movement, and to assure allied citizens of U.S. commitment to Article 5.

Saber Strike is a long-standing U.S Army Europe-led cooperative training exercise. This year's exercise objectives will focus on promoting interoperability with regional partners and improving joint operational capability in a variety of missions to prepare the participating nations and units for future operations. Participating nations include Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, United Kingdom, and the United States. The exercise was held in multiple locations throughout Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.