1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd ID is in Europe..Exercise Anakonda 16 should be watched!

via US Army.mil

(Grafenwoehr, Germany) - Soldiers from 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division started drawing tanks and Bradleys from the European Activity Set at sites in Germany, Romania and Bulgaria April 4-8 as the brigade prepares for Exercise Anakonda 16.

Anakonda 16 is a Polish national exercise taking place throughout Poland from June 7-17. The exercise will involve more than 25,000 participants from 24 nations, supporting assurance and deterrence measures by demonstrating Allied defense capabilities to deploy, mass and sustain combat power.‬

The brigade will be shooting gunnery in Germany, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland over the next two months to prepare for Anakonda.

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Steven Peck, the executive officer for Company C, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, said they will be focusing on maintenance and gunnery to make sure their crews and equipment are ready for the exercise.

"As a heavy [armored] brigade, we'll continue to push working maintenance on our equipment while we prepare for gunnery operations and qualify as crews, sections, and platoons on our gunnery tables," said Peck, a native of Bel Air, Maryland.

Bullshit.  Its gonna take them a couple of weeks to make sure all that heavy gear they're pulling from stocks will be in running shape and properly functioning.  Still, its good to see a proper force in Europe (if we're actually going back in the business of defending a Union that is more than capable of defending itself) rather than the too light Stryker Brigade.