For the first time, the sound of Marine Corps and Bulgarian treads rolling and shooting together echoed across Eastern Europe last week.
The Corps’ recently newly arrived Combined Arms Company wrapped up its first integrated training exercise, Platinum Lion 16-1, on Nov. 6 alongside Bulgarian and Romanian forces at the Novo Selo Training Area in Bulgaria.
It’s the fourth iteration of the multinational exercise, which aims designed to bolster regional security cooperation and interoperability, yet the first for the CAC and its Eastern European allies that replicatedreplicating the conditions of combined arms maneuver warfare over a mobile and fluid battlefield.
"Throughout the exercise, the partnering countries exchanged tactics, techniques and procedures on the employment of infantry, armor and indirect fire assets," said 1st Lt. Monica Witt, a public affairs officer for the Black Sea Rotational Force, the company's Romania-based parent unit.which the CAC falls under.
Between the 500-strong BSRF and the Combined Arms Company, nearly 700 Marines are now stationed in Eastern Europe.
Marines with the Combined Arms Company demonstrate the M777 howitzer to Bulgarian troops during a live-fire exercise for Platinum Lion 16-1 at Novo Selo Training Area on Oct. 29.
Photo Credit: Cpl. Justin Updegraff/Marine Corps
Over the two-week event, M1A1 Abrams tanks and LAV-25 light reconnaissance vehicles paired with Bulgarian BMP-1P armored infantry fighting vehicles to conduct offensive and defensive mechanized maneuver training combined with infantry anti-armor and indirect fire assets.
The exercise culminated in a live-fire and maneuver exercise in which Romanian and Bulgarian infantry supported by the BMPs and Marine Corps M777 artillery attacked an urban complex with a follow-on armored assault through a fortified enemy position.
The maneuvers, Witt said, were a resounding success and reinforced the partnership with the NATO allies, reassuring them of America's commitment to foster stability in Eastern Europe.
"The only difference between our forces is our language," she said. "The Bulgarians and Romanians are consummate professionals who take great pride in their military service; their eagerness and willingness to train with the Marines could not have been higher."
The CAC is a rotational force based at the Novo Selo Training Area, located approximately 43 miles west of the Bulgarian port of Burgas on the Black Sea.
It adds heavy armor, light reconnaissance and artillery capability to the Black Sea Rotational Force. The first rotation arrived in Bulgaria in August and will be followed by at least three more six-month rotations.
The CAC consists of more than over 160 Marines, four M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks, six LAV-25 amphibious armored reconnaissance vehicles and three M777 155mm howitzers.
The current rotation, led by Capt. Dan Whitt, is drawn from the 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Company, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Combat Logistics Battalion 6, as well as the 1st Battalion, 10th Marines and led by Cpt. Dan Whitt.
The Marine Corps’ Black Sea Rotational Force, centered at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, provides a forward-deployed military presence providing capacity building and rapid-crisis response capability throughout the Balkans, Black Sea and Caucasus regions.
It's part of the White House's $1 billion European Reassurance Initiative rolled out in June 2014 as "a necessary and appropriate show of support to allies … who are now deeply concerned by Russia's occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea and other provocative actions in Ukraine," according to a White House press release at the time.
With the successful completion of its first field training exercise, the CAC now sets its sights on participation in the upcoming Platinum Lynx 16-2 exercise, in which the CAC will conduct a rail movement to join up with Romanian and Bulgarian forces in Smardan, Romania.
