KUNGSÄNGEN, Sweden – Eighty New York Army National Guard Soldiers spent their annual training working alongside Swedish soldiers in Sweden's sprawling forests.
Instead of spending their two weeks of annual training at Fort Drum, New York, the New York Soldiers were in Sweden as part of New York's State Partnership Program relationship with Sweden's military.
The two-week deployment, from April 24 to May 8, allowed the New York troops to participate in exercise Northern Lights 26, known as Aurora 26 in Sweden. The team included reconnaissance Soldiers from Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment, and military police from the 105th Military Police Company, 102nd Military Police Battalion.
New York and Sweden inked a Department of War National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program deal in 2024, and this was their largest training exchange since their pairing. Previously, small groups of military personnel have attended training events in each other's countries.
For many of the Empire State Soldiers, the exercise was a series of firsts, including their first time leaving the continental United States, their first time operating under a foreign command and their first experience of a different approach to reconnaissance and combat operations.
“Their [Swedish] reconnaissance assets are a mounted force, so the size of the movement and the durations are longer,” said Capt. Ryan Sheehan, Troop C’s commander. “We’re usually only out there for 24 hours, maybe 48. Having them do reconnaissance for 72-plus hours gives my Soldiers a perspective on having to equip themselves for that.”
Placed under the command of a Swedish reconnaissance company from the Guard’s Regiment, Troop C’s platoons had to overcome the unique challenges of navigating a new command structure, eventually finding their footing and adapting successfully.
The differences extended into small-unit tactics. Pvt. Tyler Brundage, a Troop C infantryman from Elma, New York, said that while U.S. doctrine favors establishing a static observation post to monitor a target long term, Swedish reconnaissance elements prioritize continuous, fluid movement.
Brundage recalled one grueling mission that began with a six-mile ruck through thick vegetation to a highly camouflaged rally point, culminating in a stealthy nighttime movement through a residential neighborhood under the cover of darkness.
“It was super cool,” he said. “We were walking, staying close to the forest, and we had to kick out onto a street, and some lady looked at us through the window. It was crazy because you’re never going to see that in America.”
Despite some of the small-unit tactical differences, the integration at the team level was seamless. Sgt. Matthew Jankowski, a team leader from Clifton Springs, New York, leading his first large-scale training event, credited his platoon leadership and the professionalism of the Swedish hosts for mitigating potential friction.
"We fell under Swedish command, and we had some Swedes embedded with us, but predominantly it didn't really change the mission very much," Jankowski said. "Whatever differences there might have been above my station were absorbed by my platoon sergeant and platoon leader."
Jankowski described the intense training as a bond-building "crucible."
"There were a lot of tough moments, but everyone knew there was a mission to do, and they knew what their part was," Jankowski said. "We had an excellent Swedish soldier with us ... the integration was very seamless."
Brundage emphasized the advanced tactics and state-of-the-art technology used by the Swedish trainers to bring stark wartime realism to the training scenarios, driven by regional security concerns. He recalled his Swedish counterparts using a specialized 12-by-12-foot tarp designed to completely mask thermal signatures from overhead drone surveillance.
"When the drone pops up, and it sees a thermal signature across the whole forest, that tarp that all five of us are sleeping under ... it all is the same heat signature," Brundage explained. "They treat everything so seriously."
For other New York Soldiers, the training extended beyond reconnaissance and infantry tactics. Spc. Myles McCoy, a military police specialist with the Buffalo-based 105th Military Police Company, spent his time in country partnering with Swedish military police on detainee and combat operations while living out of field tents.
“This is my first time out of the USA,” McCoy said. “Honestly, I love Sweden. [Northern Lights] gives us a lot of opportunity to not be so ‘cone-visioned.’ We’re not just New York state. We’re not just the U.S.”
McCoy said he and his fellow Soldiers used their time working with the Swedish Armed Forces to build rapport, learn, exchange information and make both sides better.
“Coming over to a place like Sweden shows you that there's a world outside of our own at a much larger capacity,” he said. “There are a lot of people who want to fight for their own country and where they live, just like we do."
Both leaders and Soldiers agreed that Northern Lights 26 underscored the value of the program, proving that face-to-face engagements turn diplomatic agreements into tangible battlefield capabilities.
"It’s one thing to put it on paper and say, 'Yeah, we're teamed with the Swedish,' but to actually get out here and train with them and truly team with them, I think that's an entirely different thing," Brundage said.
"I hope that we've made a good impact on them,” Jankowski added. “I hope that they've enjoyed us as much as we've enjoyed them, and that we were able to build those relationships for a long time and be invited back to training events like this."