The Smardan firing range of Galati County on Monday hosted the opening of a Justice Eagle 17 joint defence training exercise to be attended by over 350 Romanian and US troops, April 10- May 5.
The Romanian Defence Ministry (MApN) said Monday in a press statement that troops to take part in the exercise belong to Romania’s 284th Cuza Voda Tank Battalion; the 300 St. Andrew Mechanised Infantry Battalion; the 285th Vlaicu Voda Artillery Battalion; the 282nd Principality Union Mechanised Infantry Brigade as well as to the US Army Fighting Vultures Battalion.
“This is an excellent opportunity for us to be here, to train together in order to prove and promote the solidity of our partnership. The Smardan training range provides us an opportunity for joint training to validate standard operational procedures so that we may achieve the desideratum of training as we fight,” Deputy Commander of the 282nd Principality Union Mechanised Infantry Brigade Cornel-Traian Scurt is quoted as saying in the statement.
Head of the US battalion’s operations Major Michael Harrison is quoted as saying in his turn that the fighting vultures arrived in Romania this February under a commitment of the US Land Forces in Europe in support of the US allies.
The Justice Eagle 17 scenario is a fictitious one based on defence fighting by subunits of Abrams and TR 85 M Bizon tanks, mechanised infantry on Bradley and MLI 84 M Jder fighting vehicles supported by Paladin artillery and 155-mm canons.
The statement also says that the participating US troops belong to the US Land Forces in Europe and are provided under a commitment by the US to strengthen collective security and cooperation in Eastern Europe as part of the Atlantic Resolve Operation. The unit will station in Romania for nine months, after which it will be replaced by another fighting unit, this way securing consistent US presence in Europe based on continual rotation. During their deployment, the troops will conduct joint shootings using live ammunitions at platoon and company levels at the Smardan secondary training range while also taking part in planned multinational exercises.
