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Joint Military Training |
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When he Left for Great Britain, Edinburgh resident Walter E. Parmer did not expect to meet a member of the British Royal Family.
No sir, in his ten years of soldiering with the Indiana National Guard, Farmer had long since learned that a typical two weeks of Annual Training does not include rubbing elbows with royalty.
But then, this would prove to be something other then a typical AT for Farmer and the other soldiers of the 2nd Mechanized Battalion, 152 Infantry, Indiana National Guard
�1 didn�t know what to expect because I had never been on an overseas training assignment before, but I sure didn�t expect to run into to Prince Andrew. In fact, I didn�t even recognize him at first�, explained Parmer.
Parmer and 106 other Indiana Guardsmen were deployed to Castlemartin, Wales during the first two weeks of July to take part in a military exchange program between Great Britain and the United States.
The 2nd (Mechanized)-152 Infantry Battalion, Indiana National Guard was selected for participation in military exercises conducted simultaneously in Great Britain and the United States
Guardsmen with Company B of 1-152 out of Winchester, Indiana trained with the British Staffordshire Regiment at Castlemartin, Wales in maneuvers titled �Exercise Glowworm�.
In an exercise called �Rattlesnake�, 139 British soldiers of the Staffordshire Rifle Company, the 3 Staffords, traveled to Indiana to train at Camp Atterbury with Indiana Company C of the 2� 152 out of New Castle.
The program was designed to promote military expertise, goodwill, and cultural understanding between the two NATO allies.
Prince Andrew, the Duke at York, and son at the Queen is Honorary Colonel to The Staffordshire Regiment. He was making a routine visit to the British troops when he was informed the Indiana Guardsmen were present at the training sight and went to meet the visiting Hoosiers.
We were on the range learning to use the British SA 80 which is the counterpart of our M-16 rifle, continued Parmer. I was with a couple other Americans and we were just really involved with what we were doing when he walked up. He was dressed in his combat uniform. I thought he was just another British officer checking on training like our officers are always doing. He seemed like an 0K guy, really Concerned how we were doing and so on. We just talked to him like anyone else. Then I realized who he was and I kind at felt like an idiot, but he seemed like a really nice guy.�
Parmer added that Prince Andrew did not seem to have body guards with him even though England had experienced recent terrorist activity. 1 guess they figured the British soldiers would keep him safe. Really, we all would have been there to help too. By the end at his visit all of us liked him too. We would have been right there to help protect him.
While in Wales, Indiana soldiers were, in fact, given training by the British military in anti-terrorist tactics. They also trained in British combat tactics with British weapons.
British soldiers at Camp Atterbury received instructions in American anti-terrorist tactics. British soldiers deployed to Indiana also trained with American light weapons and armored personnel carriers and participated in a mock land battle exercise. Also British soldiers were given training by the Indiana Air Guard in air battle tactics.
Climate on both sides of the Atlantic posed a challenge tar both groups of
soldiers. During the first week, our guys were freezing over there, and the Brits were having a terrible time with the heat and humidity here �, said Command Sgt. Major Thomas Swearer of I-152.
I�ve been in for 14 years and this has been some of best training I�ve had,� commented CPL Neal Summers of the British 3 Staffords. �it�s been great. The only down side has been the heat and the insects and the skunks. It never gets this hot at homeland. We only have one or two mosquitoes, no chiggers and absolutely no such thing as a skunk.
Though operations Glowworm� and �Rattlesnake� involved intensive training schedules time was allowed for soldiers to experience civilian life of the country they were visiting.
In Wales, after training soldiers were given tours of Windsor Castle and surrounding countryside.
In Indiana, British
soldiers were taken to the Indianapolis Speedway, Columbus, and Nashville.
They were also treated to a pig roast� put on by Headquarters and the
Marion Family Support group. British soldiers taught the Americans to play
Cricket and the Americans taught the British to play softball.
�Everything�s cheaper here�, explained lvt. Ryan V. Moore, �Good blue jeans cost 85 to 90 pounds in the UK (United Kingdom) here they are only about 35 pounds.�
Covered by a Swelling rash at mosquito bites, Pvt. Tony Grace took a minute tram his final packing to explain his mixed emotions about leaving Atterbury for the return to England its always good to go home, but I would like to stay here longer too. This has been wonderful. I would like to stay a bit longer.
American troops returned to Indianapolis on Sunday.
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The British are coming !!
That�s right. The British are coming and they will arrive At Camp
Atterbury for training on august 29, and will conduct Various field
training exercises until 12 September 1987. Under the command of Major bob west, the 6th volunteer Bn., Royal Anglian regiment, of the United Kingdom will be having An exchange program with the 2/293 Company C from Logansport, Indiana.
Captain Thomas Ladow, company commander of the 2/293, says the exchange
program will involve approximately 150 troops From the 2/293 being able to
go to the United Kingdom to Train with our allies while the British group,
approximately The same size, will be training here at Atterbury.
Neither unit will be taking weapons to their respective training Site.
Each will train, qualify and familiarize with the other�s weaponry. During
their stay at Atterbury, our allies will Be conducting defensive and
offensive tactics, combat patrolling Night attacks, and the us of the
miles system. All training will be done with the 2/293. Captain Ladow
stated that our terrain differs greatly form theirs in that we have a
great deal of vegetation, foliage and woods, while they have very little. The
mission of the volunteer army in the United Kingdom is primarily to
protect and to provide security for air bases. The British get paid for being in the volunteer army but they don�t have to attend drill. All drill attendance is voluntary. Yet they have an eighty-five percent attendance rate.
Captain Ladow further stated the backbone of the British Army Is it�s NCO corps. They are a very disciplined, dedicated and knowledgeable group of men. Captain Ladow looks at the exchange as a great benefit for both countries. Everyone involved will benefit greatly. We will have a better understanding, not only militarily but culturally as well.
However, it�s not going to be all work and no play. A weekend getaway is being planned which will involve a tour of Indianapolis where the British group will take in the sites and be able To purchase American products. They are really looking forward to buying some western wear, said Captain Ladow, it seems they associate the image of the western cowboy with the American Culture more than anything else.
The
British group is similar with our scout platoon. They are from Burey St.,
Edmonds, England. While here they will be conducting weapon familiarization with the M-16 and M-60. |
07/-2/2006 - Hot Indiana weather saps British soldiersCAMP ATTERBURY � The hired hands chosen to play the role of civilians weren�t the only visitors to join National Guard soldiers in their recent combat training. Seven British soldiers from various reserve units in England, similar to the U.S. National Guard, participated as part of an exchange program between the two forces. Strange food, different military customs and steamy weather tested the British soldiers� stamina throughout their time in Indiana. Used to training in about 50-degree, rainy weather, Color Sgt. Andy Hunter, 30, of Leicester, England, said the humid and sunny days at Camp Atterbury were a hard adjustment. �I�ve never sweated so much in my life,� he said, laughing. �It�s like someone has left the radiator on.� Though he�s been deployed to Bosnia in 1996 and Iraq in 2003, learning to work in the heat again has been training enough in itself, he said. Lt. Duke Chris Gilbert, 22, of Manchester, England, agreed. �We wouldn�t train in excess of 75 degrees, and it hasn�t even gotten that cold at night here,� he said, laughing. Though the U.S. tactics of training soldiers are slightly different from those of England, they�re done to accomplish the same goal, both soldiers said. Calling the training �quite interesting,� Hunter, a computer engineer, said he feels confident he�ll be able to take some of the ideas he�s learned back to his unit, the 3rd Battalion Royal England. His unit has about 400 soldiers, he said. Coming to the U.S. for the second time in his life � the first was to Disney World when he was about 9 years old � Gilbert said he was impressed by how freely soldiers were allowed to go out in public in their military uniforms. That�s something that he wouldn�t feel comfortable doing at home, he said. �The civilian opinion of the military isn�t quite as good over there as it is here,� he said, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead. Kara Lopp, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Fort Wayne,IN,USA |
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Page last revised
10/19/2022