The U.S. Army is planning a test next month to see how well the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division responds to threats worldwide through the Global Response Force to help allies on quick notice. A new all-terrain vehicle will be tested in the jump to get them out of the drop zone during the Swift 16 Response Test.
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Colonel Colin Tuley commands a 4,200 troop brigade that acts in response to a crisis within 4 days or sooner, called the “Global Defense Force.”
The 600 paratroopers will jump out of C-17 transports in Torun, Poland to test their “readiness and deployability” of the Global Response Force, Tuley told reporters in a phone interview. He did not respond to whether or not the Swift Response 16 test in Poland was in response to Russian threats since the test was meant to sure up NATO to the east.
In a phone interview with Pentagon reporters, Tuley said, “It could be to conduct peacekeeping, it could be how do you respond to heavy immigration challenges in Europe,” he said. “It’s really just a symbol of a united front amongst alliances and their partners.”
On June 6, which is the anniversary of D-Day, Tuley’s forces will take off from Fort Bragg, North Carolina and take the ten hour journey to Poland where 10 MRZR all-terrain vehicles will be dropped. The vehicles are made by Polaris Defense.
“These vehicles significantly enhance what would otherwise be foot mobility,” Brig. Gen. Brian Winski, deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne, told Bloomberg News. “They change the dynamic and turn what would have been a 3 mile-per-hour operation into a 50 mile-per-hour operation.”
Next month, Tulley’s troops will join up with 1,000 paratroopers from the British 16 Air Assault Brigade and the Polish 6th Airborne Brigade. Overall, the exercise will include more than 5,000 troops from various European countries as well as the United States.
“Swift Response will demonstrate the allies’ ability to respond to a crisis scenario from staging bases in both Europe and the U.S. within 18 hours of notification,” according to a U.S. Army Statement.
