Pennsylvania Guard Soldiers Participate in Lithuania Exercise

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - Soldiers from the Pennsylvania National Guard's 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team participated in Exercise Strong Griffin in Lithuania.

A total of 71 Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment; 1st Squadron, 104th Cavalry Regiment; and the 2nd IBCT headquarters took part in the exercise Oct. 14-31 at General Silvestras Žukauskas Training Area in Pabradė.

Exercise Strong Griffin is an annual training exercise to rehearse the planning and execution of Lithuanian and allied troops' defensive operations. Over 2,500 troops from Lithuania, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in Strong Griffin this year.

"This was a great opportunity to deploy Soldiers forward to eastern Europe that then needed to quickly integrate into the formation of our NATO partners to conduct defensive operations against an armored unit," said Capt. Daniel Kysela, a training officer with the 2nd IBCT. "Our Soldiers were able to work through the problems of integration in a lower threat environment and build partnership with our aligned unit through the State Partnership Program."

The main training audience for the exercise was the Lithuanian Griffin Brigade's 21st Battalion. An infantry platoon from the 1-109th Infantry and a calvary section from the 1-104th Cavalry were attached to the battalion for the exercise.

Among those participating in the exercise were 23 Soldiers from B Troop, 1-104th Cavalry.

Capt. Justin Gonzalez, B Troop commander, said the mission for the exercise was to integrate into a Lithuanian platoon, execute reconnaissance tasks and conduct defensive operations in urban and forested terrain.

"The purpose of this exercise was to augment the Griffin Brigade's 21st Battalion with subject matter experts on reconnaissance tasks in order to strengthen partnerships, expand knowledge and execute joint operations with our state partner," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said the exercise enabled the troop's Soldiers to apply practical knowledge and training in a maneuver space that allowed junior and senior leaders to make decisions in a structured training environment.

"This experience was invaluable as my Soldiers were able to integrate with a partner nation and apply shared experiences and creative thinking to receive and process information and make recommendations to better shape the battlefield," Gonzalez said. "Our Soldiers made lasting impressions and friendships with the 21st Battalion's Recce Platoon, which I know will only further strengthen continued joint exercises we hope to attend in the years to come."

The Pennsylvania National Guard and Lithuania have partnered through the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program since it began in 1993. The two sides have taken part in over 800 security cooperation engagements, including senior leader engagements, subject matter expert exchanges, familiarization visits and cooperative training and exercises.