Image Gallery: October 2008
03 October 2008
Field Training Exercise
Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group, kicked off the Field Training Exercise (FTX) for Cooperative Spirit 08 with air-mobile insertion into their area of operations. 9 Platoon was partnered with US soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, and for the first time were mounted in US Stryker armoured vehicles to secure a landing zone for the remainder of Combat Team Charlie. Once the landing zone was secured, 7 and 8 Platoons and Combat Team HQ elements were inserted via UH-1H Iriqois helicopters over numerous sorties and began their new tasks of patrolling and securing their new territory.
Approximately 180 personnel drawn mostly from the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) in Townsville have deployed to Germany on Cooperative Spirit 2008 (CS08). CS08 is a multinational exercise intended to test interoperability among the American, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Armies (ABCA).
The 1 RAR contingent comprises of a Battle Group HQ and Combat Team Force Element and will be combined with a company from the 2nd/1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (2/1 RNZIR) to create the ‘ANZAC Battle Group’ during the exercise. They will conduct operations in the field, under stressful battlefield conditions, complete with a sophisticated opposing force and realistic training scenarios in a world-class training facility.
CS08 is being conducted by the United States at the Joint Multinational Readiness Centre (JMRC), located in Hohenfels, Germany, between 11 Sep and 10 Oct 08. Around 1800 troops from ABCA Armies are taking part in the activity. The month-long exercise aims to develop skills common to ABCA armies and increase interoperability for combined operations, offering significant opportunities to train soldiers in a combined (multinational) environment.
| 20080925cs08_003 Photo by PFC (Private First Class) Joshua Sizemore (US Army) 9 Platoon soldiers from Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group, compare equipment and tactics with US soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team before mounting up in US Stryker armoured vehicles to secure a landing zone for the remainder of Combat Team Charlie during Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 25 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080925cs08_015 Photo by PFC Joshua Sizemore (US Army) Australian soldiers from 9 Platoon, Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group, and US soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team conduct briefings before mounting up in US Stryker armoured vehicles to secure a landing zone for the remainder of Combat Team Charlie during Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 25 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080925cs08_016 Photo by PFC Joshua Sizemore (US Army) 9 Platoon soldiers from Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group, listen in as 2LT Jordan Smith from the US 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team briefs them prior to mounting up in US Stryker armoured vehicles to secure a landing zone for the remainder of Combat Team Charlie during Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 25 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080925cs08_026 Photo by PFC Joshua Sizemore (US Army) Soldiers from 9 Platoon, Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group, mount up in US Stryker armoured vehicles of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team to secure a landing zone for the remainder of Combat Team Charlie during Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 25 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080925cs08_055 Photo by PFC Joshua Sizemore (US Army) (Left to right) CPL Blake Pascoe (8 Platoon) with PTE Stephen Axon, PTE Nicholas Baldwin, PTE Jae Butler-Evans, PTE Timothy Bray and CPL Mark Foster from 7 Platoon, Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group receive pre-flight briefings before boarding UH-1H Iroquois helicopters for the Combat Team Charlie air-mobile insertion into their area of operations to kick off the Field Training Exercise (FTX) part of Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 25 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080925cs08_057 Photo by PFC Joshua Sizemore (US Army) Members of Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group receive pre-flight briefings before boarding UH-1H Iriqois helicopters for the Combat Team Charlie air-mobile insertion into their area of operations to kick off the Field Training Exercise (FTX) part of Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 25 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080925cs08_173 Photo by PFC Joshua Sizemore (US Army) Members of Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group watch and wait as UH-1H Iroquois helicopters prepare to land for their next sortie for the Combat Team Charlie air-mobile insertion into their area of operations in kicking off the Field Training Exercise (FTX) part of Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 25 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080925cs08_191 Photo by PFC Joshua Sizemore (US Army) Australian soldiers from 9 Platoon, Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group, mounted in US Stryker armoured vehicles of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team provide security for the landing zone as the remainder of Combat Team Charlie conducts an air-mobile insertion during Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 25 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080925cs08_317 Photo by PFC Joshua Sizemore (US Army) Australian soldiers from 9 Platoon, Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group, prepare to depart their position in US Stryker armoured vehicles of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team as UH-1H Iriqois helicopters fly away after their final air-mobile insertion troop sortie during Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 25 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20080925cs08_370 Photo by PFC Joshua Sizemore (US Army) LT James Horrigan and PTE Stafford O’Leary from 9 Platoon, Combat Team Charlie, ANZAC Battle Group mounted in US Stryker armoured vehicles of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team provide orders to their platoon after securing a landing zone during Cooperative Spirit 08. (Date taken: 25 September 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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