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Video by Sgt. Jesse Granger

Spc. Brennan Interview Pt. 2

U.S. Army Europe and Africa

Oct. 17, 2011 | 6:12

Spc. Joseph Brennan, with Battle Co. 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and a native of Mequon, Wisconsin, speaks with Jesse Granger during the full-spectrum training environment exercise conducted at Hohenfels and Grafenwoehr training areas. In this portion of the interview, Spc. Brennan talks about what prompted him to enlist in the army and and the path he followed after he made his decision. Spc. Brennan is the cousin of Sgt. Joshua Brennan, a soldier killed in action on 26 Oct. 2007 during Operation Rock Avalanche in Afghanistan. The ambush that resulted in the death of Sgt. Brennan and another soldier ultimately produced the first living Medal of Honor recipient since Vietnam when Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta was recognized for his heroic actions that night. Spc. Brennan talks about his motivation to follow in his cousin's footsteps and join the Airborne Infantry and the 173rd ABCT like his late cousin in following portions of this interview. The 173rd Airborne, stationed in Italy is conducting U.S. Army Europe's first full-spectrum training operation, and it began with a bang: 1,500 paratroopers jumped in to Hohenfels Oct. 5 in the first brigade-sized airborne operation in Europe since the unit's combat jump into Iraq in 2003. A battalion of Slovakian soldiers is augmenting the U.S. Soldiers fighting in the role of enemy forces. Never before have former eastern bloc and U.S. forces worked together as opposing forces in such numbers. Twenty-five years ago we trained to fight against Eastern Europe, now we fight and train with them. This training is also a change from the exercises that prepare units for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001. Instead of focusing on counterinsurgency operations, the U.S., alongside troops from more than 10 other nations, are encountering complex training scenarios where they attack and seize objectives, defend against or attack conventional enemy forces and rapidly transition into a stability operations posture. Also available in high definition.