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 PRESS RELEASE
7th ARMY TRAINING COMMAND
GRAFENWOEHR, GERMANY
7ATC Hosts 'Sky Soldiers' to Enable Readiness in Saber Junction 26
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany – Saber Junction is an annual Combat Training Center readiness and lethality validation exercise series for U.S. Army Europe and Africa's permanently assigned brigades. This year, the 173rd Mobile Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) is the primary training audience with approximately 3,360 troops training alongside other U.S. DoD units and European allies and partners, for a total exercise participation of approximately 5,480 troops from August 15 to September 13 in the Hohenfels Training Area.
The 7th Army Training Command's Combat Training Center rotations focus on building and validating warfighting readiness for deployed and assigned U.S. forces at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center. JMRC is the premiere combat training center location for brigade-level units to continue train as they fight, achieve their mission-essential task list training objectives and consolidate innovation lessons learned, in diverse terrain and weather to improve warfighting and lethality skills that are interoperable and ready.
“JMRC’s Combat Training Center rotations offer units like 173rd Airborne the requisite multidomain collective training environment with complex and challenging opportunities to train our functional and foundational fundamentals,” said Brig. Gen. Terry Tillis, 7ATC commander.
“Saber Junction’s scenario and mission-essential training objectives focus on combat readiness and set the conditions for large-scale combat and multidomain operations, while also leveraging updated and relative innovation efforts into the operational environment that is supporting NATO's Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative,” he said.
This JMRC CTC exercise series supports NATO's Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative, validates regional plans, enhances warfighting readiness, and employs cutting-edge capabilities to strengthen deterrence and defense across the European theater.
As part of Saber Junction 26, the 173rd MBCT(A) will validate its ability to rapidly deploy, integrate advanced capabilities, and build combat power at echelon while demonstrating that “Sky Soldiers” remain the force of choice for emergent threats across Europe and Africa.
Saber Junction 26 demonstrates the brigade’s ability to deploy from home stations in Germany and Italy; conduct reception, staging, onward movement, and integration; execute a joint forcible entry (airborne operations) then take up offensive and defensive operations; and regenerate combat power for follow-on missions.
Other Saber Junction participants and force enablers include U.S. Air Force, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine.
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