ULAANBATAAR, Mongolia - More than 90 Oregon National Guard Soldiers and nearly 50 members of the Alaska National Guard traveled to Five Hills Training Center, west of Ulaanbataar, Mongolia Aug. 11-24 to participate in Khaan Quest 2006.
Khaan Quest was sponsored by the Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF) and U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), and its purpose was for participating nations to gain U.N. Peacekeeping Training Recognition in support of the Global Peace Operations Initiative.
The Oregon and Alaska Soldiers trained and lived alongside platoons from six different countries, gaining multi-cultural experiences along the way.
Two platoons from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, based out of Corvallis, Ore.; and a mixed platoon of Alaska National Guard members representing 3rd Battalion, 297th Infantry, based out of Juneau; and the 176th Wing, from Kulis Air National Guard Base, trained alongside units from Mongolia, Bangladesh, India, Fiji, Thailand, and Tonga.
"It's been a wonderful experience to work with so many different countries, in a nation that I never thought I would ever see," said Staff Sgt. Randall Mitts, of B Company.
"Under GPOI, PACOM is responsible for training 15,000 peacekeepers in the Asia-Oceana region," said Master Sgt. Robert Rembert, PACOM. "This is the first U.S. command to execute a multi-national GPOI training exercise."
Rembert developed the first phase of Khaan Quest, known as ‘Train the Trainer,' in which Soldiers learned how to become instructors for the United Nations Training Assistance Team (UNTAT). Nearly 40 from each of the participating nations — including five from Oregon and two from Alaska — became UNTAT instructors.
"It's difficult to maintain proficiency in the training arena if you don't inject your system with new ideas," said Lt. Col. Edward Tanguy, commander of 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, and U.S. contingency commander during Khaan Quest. "Now we have trainers that know how to conduct premier lane training.
Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Glesmann, Khaan Quest training NCOIC and operations NCO for 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, said having U.N. recognition will open doors for the trainers. "When they receive U.N. recognition, the State Department logs their names into a database, so the trainers could be asked to assist other GPOI exercises in the future," Glesmann said.
The newly-trained UNTAT instructors conducted six tactical training lanes during the second phase of Khaan Quest. The instructors taught U.N. procedures for 33 peacekeeping tasks, and platoons from the seven participating nations were required to apply those techniques to simulated scenarios, including securing a fixed compound and food distribution site, operating convoys, conducting patrols and operating a checkpoint.
For the U.S. platoons who went through the training, Tanguy said that the real benefit was the multi-national experience they gained.
Second Lt. Keelan Rogers, First Platoon leader for B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, agreed: "It's been fun to train in another part of the world because you're dealing with different terrain, different climates, different building structures."
Some of the U.S. Soldiers who had previously deployed to Iraq said that the peacekeeping training in Mongolia provided new challenges as they tried to transition from a war-fighting role to a peacekeeping role.
"It's been beneficial to get some out of the ordinary training, because the peacekeeping aspect is so different from what an infantry unit normally does," Rogers said. "This has definitely challenged a lot of people. It's been a big challenge just to think in a different mind frame."
First Lieutenant Kyle Akers, Second Platoon leader for B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162ndnd Infantry, said the peacekeeping training created more versatile Soldiers. "This is teaching them to become everything from that high intensity combat Soldier to that low intensity peacekeeper," he said. "If they know how to go from one extreme to another like that, it makes them a better overall Soldier."
According to many of the U.S. Soldiers, the Mongolian armed forces presented a formidable adversary as role-players.
The Mongolians dressed in civilian clothes, staged riots and protests, and performed simulated attacks and drive-by shootings. The Soldiers negotiating the training scenarios practiced forming cordon lines to prevent the OPFOR from interfering with their mission. Some of the role-players broke through the lines, forcing the Soldiers to chase them down and detain them. To add to the stress of the training, the OPFOR also pretended to steal equipment from Soldiers — after which both sides had to simulate negotiating food and water in exchange for the stolen equipment.
"As trainers, we tried to make the lanes as realistic as we possible could," said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Eastham, from Alaska's A Company, 3rd Battalion, 297th Infantry. Eastham was one of the UNTAT trainers for the training lane where platoons practiced securing a food distribution site. "We want them to react to the hysteria that a massive crowd can produce."
At the end of each scenario, the Soldiers shook hands with the Mongolian role-players and reviewed what they had learned.
"The OPFOR has made this seem a lot more realistic than any other I've been through," said Spc. Nathan Moore of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry.
The platoon-level training also included a day on the firing range for weapons familiarization. The platoons fired U.S. weapons including the M-16, M-4, Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), 240B; and Mongolian weapons including the AK-47 rifles; as well as other Soviet-made automatic weapons.
"When you have multi-national forces working together in U.N. missions, Soldiers need to be familiar with their counterparts' weapons," said Glesmann. "If your weapon goes down and you need to defend yourself."
For many of the soldiers, both U.S. and foreign, this was their first experience firing some of these weapons.
"The weapon training was like being a little kid at a carnival, as long as you had enough tokens you could ride all the rides. I was going from range to range to see what weapon I could shoot next," said Cpl. Adam Alvarez, of B Company, who also trained soldiers from other countries on U.S. weapons. "They were very excited to have the opportunity to shoot our weapons," he said.
"Even though these people haven't been given the opportunities we have in America, they are very clean, courteous, very well-mannered. They have great military bearing," said Staff Sgt. Jeromy Turner, of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry. "A lot of them are warriors themselves and have deployed all over the world. They're combat veterans just like us and in most cases they've deployed more places than we have," he continued. "There's a lot of countries here with great history they've been sharing with us."
At the end of each training day, Oregon Soldiers spent their free time playing volleyball and rugby with platoons from other countries. At night, they gathered in the recreation tents, sharing songs and stories with the Fijian and Tongan soldiers. The participants taught each other words and phrases in their native languages, spanning seven different countries. Several Soldiers even learned kick-boxing techniques, and how to use Daab swords from the Thai soldiers.
Cultural events were also held in the evenings which showcased the individual talents of the participating platoons. The Tongan soldiers oiled-up their skin, sang and danced in grass skirts while swinging long wooden spears. A tribal beat echoed through the camp as Fijian soldiers sang and played the drums. The Mongolians showcased their talents as contortionists and wrestlers, with some of the U.S. Soldiers donning the wrestling costumes and participating in matches with the Mongolians. The Mongolians also drew upon their long history as horsemen, racing them in the grass fields of Five Hills Training Center among free-ranging cattle.
"I've been in shock and awe over the beauty of this country," Mitts said about Mongolia. "It's inspiring to see a country where the richest people are nomads who own a few hundred sheep, or a few horses and cows."
Becker said he learned a lot from working and living with foreign soldiers.
"Coming away from this experience, I have a new-found respect for a lot of these soldiers in foreign militaries," he said. "We're different culturally in a lot of ways, but when it comes down to it, we're all still soldiers, no matter where we come from."
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth Preston visited with the U.S. platoons during Khaan Quest and was pleased by the relationship building between U.S. Soldiers and other countries.
"The relationships that U.S. Soldiers are building with the Mongolian Army and the other NATO countries here is important," Preston said. "It's a sharing of concepts and ideas, and it builds great relationships not only between armies but also between countries. The Oregon and Alaska National Guard Soldiers here have been great ambassadors for the United States in Mongolia."
The relationship between the Alaska National Guard and Mongolia has been building since 2003 and will continue into the future through the National Guard Bureau's State Partnership Program.
"The intent of the state partnership is to develop events and exchanges between our militaries, governments and civilians to both benefit and learn from each other," said Maj. Stephen Wilson, state partnership coordinator for the Alaska National Guard. "Khaan Quest is a chance to work together with many foreign countries in peacekeeping operations and stability operations, so that's valued training."
Kalei Brooks and 2nd Lt. Amy Bombassaro, of the Alaska National Guard Public Affairs Office, contributed to this report.