MADISON, Wis. - A group of Wisconsin Army National Guard officers spent nearly two weeks in late February and early March in Canada participating in a major military exercise.
The five officers who travelled to Edmonton, Alberta, for an exercise dubbed "Canadian Resolve" were the latest in a line of reciprocal exchanges between the Canadian military and the Wisconsin National Guard.
The group, which consisted of Col. David Monk, Lt. Col. Gerald Eastman, Maj. James Sandomierski, Maj. Michael Yount and Maj. Max Brosig, left for Edmonton Feb. 19 and returned March 4. What they did in the interim provided them with a fresh perspective and aided the Canadians in their quest to train with foreign soldiers.
"It was a great opportunity," said Brosig, who coordinated the exercise's air assault operations. "Any time you have the ability to work with another country or another service it validates some of the practices that you have in your organization. But you also learn and have some good takeaways from working with them as well."
While Brosig worked with the Canadian 408th Tactical Helicopter Squadron, the remainder of the Wisconsin contingent acted as the staff of an American Stryker brigade combat team. As a result of previous joint training between Wisconsin and Canada's 38th Brigade, the Canadian military asked the Wisconsin Guard members to participate as an element of the division-level operation.
The collaboration between Wisconsin and the 38th Brigade started in 2012 when the two began conducting combined training events as part of a larger Army National Guard.
The 38th Brigade, based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, spent several drill weekends in Wisconsin in 2012. Soldiers from the unit also participated in a Warfighter exercise organized by Wisconsin's 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team last spring at Fort McCoy, Wis., and they plan to augment another 32nd Brigade exercise in July.
Gaining experience working with international forces is an invaluable experience for both sides said Monk, who acted as the American brigade commander in Canadian Resolve.
"This was an excellent opportunity for all to work in a multinational joint operational environment," he wrote. "The Wisconsin National Guard contingent presented a cooperative, professional image at all times. All of the Wisconsin National Guard participants felt they had learned important lessons about staff planning and cultural differences in communication and process."
Capt. Orrin Viner, who heads up Wisconsin's State Partnership Program and oversees the state's military relationship with Canada, said one Canadian training exercise planner told him he wanted the American representatives to "Show up in funny colored camouflage, talk funny, and cause confusion. We'll learn from that."
"The value of joint exercises of this scope goes beyond the tactics and strategic level learning that participants gain," Viner said. "The greatest returns are in learning how we differ from our allies, what they do better, and how we can better communicate jointly."
Though both nations speak English, communication and cultural barriers remain. Working through those barriers can only be taught in real, collaborative environments.
As for their contributions to the exercise, the Wisconsin Army National Guardsmen played the part of a brigade staff and went through the planning and decision-making process with their Canadian allies. They ultimately each earned a commander's coin from the Canadian brigadier general serving as the exercise's division commander.