LATHAM, N.Y. – Seven hundred New York Military Nationwide Guard Troopers will participate within the multinational African Lion coaching train in Tunisia and Morocco in Could.
Many of the New York Nationwide Guard Troopers concerned within the train are a part of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, and can be coaching in Morocco within the second half of the month.
The regiment is headquartered in Utica and has parts in Geneseo, Morrisonville, Ithaca and Glenville.
The first Battalion, 258th Area Artillery, will deploy 120 Troopers with a battery of 105 mm M114A1 howitzers, primarily based on the Armed Forces Reserve Heart in New Windsor, to Tunisia in early Could.
The train would be the largest U.S. navy coaching occasion performed on the African continent. Over 8,100 navy personnel from 27 nations and NATO will take part in coaching occasions in Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal.
Nationwide Guard models from Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, North Dakota, Vermont and Virginia may even practice alongside U.S. lively obligation forces, together with the U.S. Military and Air Power Reserve, and a big cohort of allied and companion nations. Navy docs and dentists may even go to native villages to supply humanitarian help as a part of the train in Morocco.
”Multinational workouts like African Lion permit us to work shoulder to shoulder with a number of worldwide companions and be a part of a novel multinational pressure,” stated U.S. Military Lt. Col. Frank Engle, the commander of the 108th Infantry. ”We relish the chance to exhibit our proficiency on the continent.”
Engle’s battalion will take part in operations in Morocco with Troopers from the twenty seventh Infantry Brigade Fight Workforce headquarters primarily based in Syracuse, the 152nd Brigade Engineer Battalion from Buffalo, and the first Battalion, 258th Area Artillery, working out of Camp Smith, close to Peekskill.
Through the coaching, the 108th Infantry will fireplace tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles, referred to as TOWs, and Javelin anti-tank missiles.
African Lion 2024 is the twentieth anniversary of a coaching train that originally concerned simply the U.S. Marine Corps and the Moroccan navy.
The train, coordinated by U.S. Africa Command, enhances regional cooperation and safety in North and West Africa.
The New York Nationwide Guard Troopers can be participating in live-fire workouts as a part of drills involving naval gunfire and even B-52 bombing missions in Morocco.
“This can be simply the largest factor I’ve ever seen,” Engle stated.
