Exercise Watch: ‚Dragoon Ride‘ hat begonnen

Es ist ein bisschen Übung, aber auch eine Road Show: US-Truppen, die im Rahmen der Operation Atlantic Resolve im Baltikum bei Übungen eingesetzt waren, haben ihren ‚Dragoon Ride‘, (Dragonerritt) begonnen, den Landmarsch über fast 2.000 Kilometer zurück in ihre Garnison in Vilseck in Bayern. Das Ganze begleiten die US-Streitkräfte mit viel Werbung in den sozialen Netzwerken; auf Youtube dürfen die Jungs wohl ihre Videos ganz auf ihren Geschmack schneiden:
(Direktlink: https://youtu.be/9kLGQupXZV4)

Auf der Facebook-Seite der US-Botschaft in Tallinn wird der estnische Teil des Road Trips noch mal erläutert:

2d Cavalry Regiment’s Iron Troop is hitting the road on Saturday and embarking on a Dragoon Ride. On March 21, Iron Troop finishes its training rotation at Tapa Military base and will start driving back to their home base in Germany. On its way, American soldiers will make stops in Paide, Türi and Pärnu in order to meet with the local Estonians and show their weaponry and equipment. „We look forward to this event, because it allows us to demonstrate our security commitment to our NATO allies, it is also a good way to show our capability in independent operations,“ said the 2nd Cavalry company commander Captain James Gibbs. The weaponry and equipment exhibitions will start on Saturday at 9:00 AM in front of Türi Cultural Center, at 9:00 AM next to Paide Cultural Center, and at 12:00 PM on the square in front of Pärnu Endla Theater. Pärnu exhibition will also feature Estonian Defense League weaponry and equipment and soldier soup will be served. The events in Türi and Paide will both last for two hours, the one in Pärnu for four hours. Afterwards, they will meet up with other units training in the region through Operation Atlantic Resolve and drive to Germany together. Safe travels!

Die Idee zu dieser Aktion kam vom kommandierenden General der U.S. Army Europe, Generalleutnant Ben Hodges, wie die Army Times berichtet. Und:

Hodges envisions the soldiers and their Strykers will travel for half a day at a time before stopping at the nearest village or town, giving them time to interact with the local population.
„I envision kids crawling over those vehicles, sort of a public awareness kind of thing as well,“ he said.
Operation Dragoon Ride also will test the Army’s ability to freely move from one country to another, he said.

Konstante Updates gibt’s beim Twitter-Acccount der Operation Atlantic Resolve.