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NEWS | June 8, 2016

The Perfect Partnership at Anakonda 2016

By Spc. Miguel Alvarez 354th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

DRAWSKO POMORSKI TRAINING AREA, Poland – “The City of Chicago has the largest population of Poles outside of Poland,” said Lt. Col. John W. Strain, Commander of the 44th Chemical Battalion from the Illinois National Guard. He said it is a bonus to be able to train with a community and culture that many of his Soldiers are very close to back in the United States and that Illinois has strong bonds with.

Strain, a native of Acworth, Ga., is in Poland with his National Guard unit to participate in Exercise Anakonda 2016, a Polish-led, multinational exercise running from June 7-17.

The unit has a continuing multiyear partnership with the Polish military, said Strain. Exercises like Anakonda help his Soldiers build knowledge, leadership, readiness, confidence, and international acumen.

Strain said his Soldiers achieve this by constantly encountering moments to grow within their military profession.

“My Soldiers come to this training and they have the Polish Soldiers teaching them about their equipment and process, and then we have to also be able to present and teach our allies about our process and equipment,” said Strain.

All of this, Strain hopes, will lead to in increase in interoperability between countries and also pushes the Soldiers to learn by teaching.

“See one, do one, and teach one,” said Strain.

Soldiers from the 44th also end up noticing the instant benefits of training together with the Polish Soldiers during Exercise Anakonda.

“Besides getting to see a beautiful place, this experience has really allowed us to grow unit cohesion and individual leadership,” said Spc. Callie Coyle, a chemical operations specialist, from the 44th Chemical Battalion.
 
Coyle, a native of Edwardsville, Ill., said her confidence and understanding of her equipment had improved simply from the preparation for Anakonda 2016. She states she hopes to be a sergeant soon, so she has taken the initiative to step up more as a leader within the unit.

As one of the Soldiers selected to present her duties during a decontamination station walk-thru for the Polish Soldiers, Coyle said she has grown more comfortable with presenting and communicating with Soldiers from other nations.

“At first it was a culture shock, but now we feel really close with the Polish Soldiers,” said Coyle.

The Americans are not the only side of the partnership benefiting from Anakonda 2016.

2nd Lt. Damian Machaj, from the 5th Chemical Regiment of the Polish Army said, “I’m excited to meet the American Soldiers and see all of the equipment they have as well as getting the opportunity to present on our equipment and process for our work.

Machaj was just one of many Soldiers from the 5th Chemical Regiment, who were able to present to the American troops.

It is important that we continue to have opportunities to learn about each others capabilities,” said 2nd Lt. Damian Stepien, of the 5th Chemical Regiment.

Anakonda 2016, said Strain, will allow Soldiers to continue to grow in intensity at the tactical level.

Overall, said Strain, for the National Guard troops of the 44th Chemical Battalion, it is important to participate in Exercise Anakonda 2016 because the Soldiers will confidently recall their Soldier skills and learn new lessons from multinational training.

“We are ultimately one Army and our troops get to see that the Polish see us as one Army force,” added Strain.