JOINT TRAINING CENTER, Jordan (Jan. 28, 2016) — Soldiers with U.S. Army Central’s 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, partnered with soldiers of the Jordanian Armed Forces, or JAF, to plan and execute an ongoing mission readiness exercise, or MRX, near the JAF’s Joint Training Center, Jordan, that began, Jan. 17.
JAF soldiers with Princess Basma’s 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion have spent more than 12 weeks training with 5-4 Cavalry. The two units trained side by side in various warfighting tasks, which included basic rifle marksmanship, first aid, radio communications, mounted and dismounted attacks, clearing buildings and responding to indirect fire that led up to the battalion-level exercise.
During the first part of the MRX, the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion executed a battalion-level maneuver exercise that included live fire training.
“It was great to have the Americans work with us,” said 1st. Lt. Mohammad Obeidat, the commander of 1st Company, 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion. “The goal of this partnership is to learn from their military experience. I hope the results were very good. We have achieved a lot and our command is looking for that.”
During the MRX, the JAF command teams worked alongside the enlisted Soldiers and officers of 5-4 Cavalry to plan attacks on two key objectives at a simulated border and the subsequent defense of those objectives. Soldiers with 5-4 Cavalry played opposition forces trying to forcibly cross the imaginary border to seize territory.
The partnering effort was great for building a continued relationship for both forces for future training exercises, said Sgt. Jonathan Taylor, a cavalry scout with Company C, 5-4 Cavalry and a native of Junction City, Kansas.
He said that many JAF soldiers considered it a chance to train alongside the best.
“The United States Army is the strongest world-wide, and that is known,” added Obeidat. “They have the experience of a real war and real combat. It is very important for our military to learn from people who have experience and knowledge. That is [what we need] to be able to develop and evolve; to go out and be capable of fighting.”
Over the course of working together, Soldiers from the JAF and 5-4 Cavalry have formed a close friendship.
The value of the partnered training and its importance to regional security has been key to the JAF soldiers, said Capt. Jake Sass, commander of Company C, 5-4 Cavalry.
“They understand that everything they learn and practice in this MRX is going to be utilized as they are defending their own country,” said Sass, of Chatfield, Minnesota. “They stress every day about the value of learning, preparing and getting ready for what their country may call on them to do.”