Ohio National Guard News

Ohio National Guard takes part in Platinum Wolf 2014

Story and Photos by Staff Sgt. George B. Davis, ONG

Romanian and Croatian soldiers, outfitted in riot gear, prepare to go through the evaluation lane for non-lethal systems training on July 1, 2014, during Platinum Wolf 14, a multinational peacekeeping exercise held at South Base near Bujanovac, Serbia. Platinum Wolf 14 focused on developing non-lethal systems capabilities and infantry skills specific to civil disturbance control and peace keeping operations.

1st Lt. James Mauch (foreground, left) and 1st Lt. John Trodden (background, right), Marine non-lethal systems instructors from Black Sea Rotational Force 14.2, evaluate a squad of Serbian soldiers from 41st Infantry Battalion, 4th Army Brigade.

A squad of Serbian soldiers from 41st Infantry Battalion, 4th Army Brigade, face role players posing as peaceful civil protestors as they prepare to go through the evaluation lane.

Sgt. 1st Class James R. Osborne (left), a member of Headquarters Company, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and a Bradford, Ohio, resident, works with Macedonian soldiers as they practice close quarters control techniques.

Master Sgt. John H. Schultz (left), a member of Joint Force Headquarters - Ohio and a Marysville, Ohio, resident, evaluates a squad of Serbian soldiers from 41st Infantry Battalion, 4th Army Brigade.

BUJANOVAC, Serbia (07/01/14) — Five Soldiers from the Ohio National Guard traveled halfway across the world in late June to Serbia to participate in exercise Platinum Wolf 2014, a multinational peacekeeping operations exercise.

The Soldiers, who are certified non-lethal systems instructors, helped to train military members from seven participating nations in the skills of civil disturbance control and peacekeeping operations.

“Platinum Wolf is a two-weeklong multinational exercise that is focused on developing non-lethal systems capabilities and infantry skills specific to civil disturbance and peacekeeping operations,” said 2nd Lt. Charles Schaffernoth, Platinum Wolf 14 exercise planner from 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment.

The event, which ran through early July, was led by Marines from Black Sea Rotational Force 14.2 and hosted by the Serbian Army’s 41st Infantry Battalion, 4th Army Brigade. Platinum Wolf 14 was conducted at South Base, home of Serbia’s Peace Keeping Operations Center.

“Our aim is to achieve the skills necessary to operate and use non-lethal weapons systems and to practice the execution of tasks in peace support operations, in a multinational environment, through the development of interoperability, and mutual understanding," said Col.  Sladjan Stamenkovic, chief of staff, 4th Army Brigade, Serbian Armed Forces, and director of joint activities.

“The (Ohio) Army National Guard’s assistance in instructing has been invaluable,” Schaffernoth said. “We came in with a small group of non-lethal, school-trained instructors and their force coming in from Ohio augmented ours and basically doubled it. So it allowed us the freedom of movement to execute simultaneous training at the same time, at different locations doing different subjects, and across the board keep the same high degree of instruction and expertise that we relate to the partner nations for the first week of the exercise.” 

With so many different military entities involved in the exercise, challenges arose that also provided opportunities to learn new techniques.

“While we we’re all trained at the same school, the Army, Macedonians and Marines have all established our own way of doing business,” said 1st Lt. John Trodden, non-lethal systems officer in charge from 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines. “The good thing about doing events like this is that they allow us to learn from one another. So this is definitely a joint, cooperative training that benefits everybody."

The first week of Platinum Wolf 14 culminated with a field evaluation of all the tactics taught by the instructors. Croatian, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Romanian and Macedonian soldiers suited up and tackled a challenging course that simulated both peaceful and then more violent civil disturbances.

“We started with the hand-to-hand techniques, getting someone down to the ground, getting them to comply,” Ohio Army National Guard. “And then that built into the weapons training, then the fun and the pain of doing the X26 taser and OC (oleoresin capsicum) or pepper spray. When we did the final event, everything came together.  Both nations worked together, even with the different languages.  They put it all together, worked on their own and executed.”

Many instructors said they noticed the growth in teamwork and esprit de corps among the different forces as the exercise progressed.
“While they may not speak the same language while they’re out here doing this type of training, they are building those bonds that will carry forth into more difficult situations, where we may have to work with them and this training will give us a good understanding of what we’re doing and make us a better fighting force,” Trodden said.

Multinational security cooperation exercises such as Platinum Wolf allow the U.S. military to improve interoperability and improve relationships with international partners.

“Through these exercises we are able to share our techniques with one another.  This allows us all to improve our individual capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Trevor Hall, commanding officer of 3rd Battalion 8th Marine Regiment and Black Sea Rotational Force 14.2. “As we build our capability we expand the collective capacity of partner nation peacekeeping forces. This increases security and stability, and this promotes peace and prosperity.”