RSS
Airborne assault drills at Galati Smardan shooting range as part of NATO multinational exercise
Troops from Italy, Spain and the U.S. Land Forces will perform a parachuting drill on Wednesday, on the Galati County Smardan shooting range, as part of the Swift Response 15 exercise, the U.S. Embassy informs.According to the cited source, the exercise takes place simultaneously in four European countries between August 17 and September 13, with the participation of paratroopers from 11 NATO member countries.
"Commander of the joint operative group, who is also the commander of the 18th Airborne Corps, Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, and his advisor on non-coms, sergeant-major adjutant Benjamin Jones, will skydive together with the paratroopers. The drills take place in Bulgaria Germany, Italy and Romania, with the participation of more than 4,800 allied troops from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the UK, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United States," reads a press release issued on Monday.
The Swift Response 15 exercise includes several airborne assault simulations taking place almost simultaneously over Romania's Smardan, Germany's Hohenfels, Bulgaria's Novo Selo drop zones, where training sessions will be carried out subsequently.
The multinational force that will train in Romania includes troops from the Italian 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, the Spanish 6th Airborne Brigade, and the U.S. 18th Airborne Corps, the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division and of the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment. They will interact on the ground with the troops of the Galati-based 300th Infantry Battalion, the U.S. Embassy said.
Swift Response 15 is the largest NATO airborne operation taking place in Europe since the end of the Cold War.