FORT DRUM, N.Y. — U.S. Army Soldiers of the 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment and Airmen with the 20th Air Support Operations Squadron were recently joined by members of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery during Exercise Hungry Horse to build interoperability among different branches of the U.S. military and allied forces.
Exercise Hungry Horse, held April 29 through May 3, 2024, showcased the necessary cohesion among Canadian forces, U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force to help build a more capable fighting force.
This event consisted of Canadian forces of the 2nd Regiment conducting air support training. U.S. Soldiers of the 6th Cavalry Regiment piloted the aircraft and U.S. Airmen graded the test for the 2nd Regiment.
Canadian soldiers of 2nd Regiment went through iterations of ground movements and clearing villages while also being tested on reporting accurate coordinates and radio communications to fulfill air support needed for each situation in the exercise. Sgt. Jace Avery, 2nd Regiment soldier, said working with 20th Air Support Operations Squadron was easier than he originally thought.
“We can basically work seamlessly together with minimum frictions,” Avery said. “We basically work off of the same sheet of music, so it's been super easy to train down here.”
The 10th Mountain Division’s 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment had the privilege of flying AH-64 Apache helicopters in support of the Canadian 2nd Regiment. The constant training iterations burned a lot of fuel, but thankfully the 6th Cavalry Regiment had a refueling team next to the range to keep pilots in the fight.
The refueling team was tasked with making sure each helicopter was refueled and rearmed in ample time. Staff Sgt. Darian Monroe with Echo Troop, 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, had high hopes for achieving hands-on training to make sure he and his Soldiers could accomplish the task in real-life situations.
“Despite its simplicity and how it looks, there is a lot of moving pieces going on,” Monroe said. “Our goal is for every Soldier from top to bottom to be able to understand the fine details that go into consideration when setting these up.”
Every Soldier there knew their purpose and goal that ultimately helped support the American Airmen and Canadian soldiers. Staff Sgt. Nkelo Kurtz, 10th Brigade Support Battalion medic, said he felt honored and proud to be working with his Canadian counterparts, talking about how this cohesion is important to the overall mission. Kurtz wanted to put into perspective how important it is to keep training with foreign military and achieve this collaborative effort to reach a common goal.
“It helps the 10th Mountain (Division) because we can go and deploy anywhere in the world and show that we can work with any foreign forces,” Kurtz said. “This helps achieve any goal or end state the United States wants us to fight.”
Social Sharing