Immediate Response 07
Some 300 U.S. Army Europe Soldiers from Germany and Italy were in to Poland in September 2007 to train along side Illinois guardsmen and Polish troops during exercise Immediate Response 07. Immediate Response 07 was a USAREUR exercise held in conjunction with a Polish-led exercise called Bagram II. Overall, USAREUR plays a major role in the U.S. European Command's Theater Security Cooperation program by preparing U.S. and coalition militaries for upcoming deployments via numerous multinational and bilateral exercises.
For IR07 and Bagram II, Soldiers from the Illinois Army National Guard's Task Force 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry and Airmen from the 169th Expeditionary Air Support Squadron of the Illinois Air National Guard trained shoulder to shoulder with Polish Land Forces for a deployment to Afghanistan later in the year.
The central purpose of IR07 is to improve interoperability between the countries' forces, which will be crucial when they reach downrange - especially because Polish and U.S. forces will be working side by side and, in some instances, combined. At that time in Afghanistan, there was a Polish battalion with a U.S. company and a U.S. battalion with a Polish company. The US was trying to build on those lessons learned and to improve the ability to work together. That is how they are fighting now and that is how they will continue to fight.
Teamwork is vital for success in the Global War on Terrorism. The US doesn't conduct any operations these days unilaterally. The US fights in coalitions, and it is extremely important that all partners understand how the US operates and tactics techniques and procedures as well as basic communication. The Illinois guardsmen and the Polish forces proved tactically proficient during IR07. They were approaching this exercise from a continuous improvement stand point. They were learning lessons and quickly implementing solutions to the lessons that they learned.
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