Commanders satisfied with the Arrow 17 -exercise
Commanders of the Finnish Army and the US Army Europe and the senior national representative of the Norwegian detachment met journalists on Friday May 5th.
– Different types of troops that represent various branches and master different gun systems are taking part in the exercise. Cooperation between mechanized troops requires strong expertise and training in all levels, the Commander of the Finnish Army, Lieutenant General Seppo Toivonen said.
Battle exercise sessions are trained and repeated several times. The battlefield simulator is modelling direct and indirect fire, mining and defeats. It’s possible to analyse the battle and moving of the troops after the training session. In Arrow 17 there is in use a record number of two-way simulator units. Due to the simulator system a platoon leader gets feedback freshly after training sessions. / Thanks to the simulator system the platoon leaders are given the feedback immediately after the training sessions.
– A direct feedback motivates troops. After each session, the starting situation, objective and realization are replayed. After feedback the training continues again with new guidelines, explains the Officer Commanding Exercise Colonel Pekka Järvi.
This is the first time when a Finnish Leopard 2 A6 company is taking part in an exercise in its full strength. –The development within interoperability and capability issues and the conscript training has advanced quickly.
– It has taken only two years since Finland bought the Leopards. Now our tank company is training its action in full strength. The Armoured Brigade deserves special thanks for all this work done, Commander of the Finnish Army emphases.
The Finnish Army’s mechanised exercise operates with the total strength of approximately 2 200 persons. These persons are divided in two battle groups. One battle group consist of soldiers from the Armoured Brigade and the Norwegian army, the other consist of soldiers from the Pori Brigade, Karelia Brigade, Uusimaa Brigade, Jaeger Brigade, Army Academy and the American Stryker company. The Finnish Air Force supported the battle period with flight performances.
By training together internationally we have a chance learn from each other. The American and Norwegian soldiers have been providing new ideas to training.
The Commander of United States Army Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges inspected his own troops in the exercise. Also Chargé d’Affaires Donna Welton from U.S. Embassy in Helsinki took part in the inspection.
– the Finnish Army’s mechanised exercise and joint training with the Finnish and Norwegian soldiers brings variety to our normal training. The exercise has gone well and the skills of Finnish conscripts are as good and convincing as earlier, Lieutenant General Hodges states.
Captain Kenneth Hol is the senior national representative of Norwegian troops. He told that the collaboration between the Finns and the mechanized platoon of Norwegian Brigade North has gone well.
– We’ve had an excellent training in an environment that is different compared to the environment in Norway. It is fascinating to see how quickly the platoon adapts to the new environment – basic skills and drills are the same. It’s easy to cooperate with the Finnish units.
The main force goes back to Norway on Sunday. We are going to a new exercise on Monday. We have two more battalion exercises this spring. Those conscripts taking part to Arrow 17 started their service last August and will be leaving in mid of July.
– Arrow 17 has met our expectations. Our platoon has gotten very good training. Tactics are mostly the same, some minor things we do differently but nothing that can’t be solved quickly, captain Hol described.
