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2Lt Oliver Robb
Military Reserve Exchange Program (MREP)
27 July - 09 Aug 2019
The Military Reserves Exchange Programme allows UK and other NATO reservist personnel to travel to the USA and work with US Reserve Units. Selected personal are able to familiarise themselves with the military culture and SOPs of our American allies, therefore improving interoperability in future operations.
This opportunity arose from an email being sent to me in January 2019 from my RHQ and I immediately registered my interest. In March, I was asked to travel to Army HQ in Andover, Hampshire for a briefing regarding the reasoning behind the exchange and to receive our exchange locations. Thus, in July 2019, I was deployed to Camp Atterbury, Indiana, USA, in order to participate in the annual training of 2/152 Infantry "Spartan" Battalion in the Indiana National Guard. I was one of two Britons on camp, imbedded in Bravo Company which functioned as the fire support element of the battalion. The principal days of training consisted of RSOI and familiarisations with various weapon systems used by the American military, including assault rifles, sniper rifles, pistols, and machine guns. The Battalion Commander, LTC Charles W. Wimp, allowed me to sit in on his orders for the upcoming green element of training, which then fed into shadowing the company commander for his own orders.
A week in and once the exercise phase began, we were introduced to the various mortar assets of the battalion and throughout the majority of the exercise, we engaged in both live and drill fire missions (Photo 1) whilst learning about the smaller minutiae of mortars capability and usage. Equally, we sat in on further platoon level orders and helped them with their sand tables - model pits (Photo 2). Towards the end of the exercise, we were invited to do a sortie in a Black Hawk in order to pick up a group of scouts on the training area, which then, rather than going back to camp, took us on a high-rise tour of downtown Indianapolis. This was a highlight indeed. Training concluded with a successful dawn attack followed by a Black Hawk exfil. On the final night, I was presented with a plaque to commemorate my time with 2/152 by the Battalion Commander and CSM Joshua Brown (Photo 3).
In addition to military training, we were also able to explore some of the cultural elements of the state of Indiana, attending an Indianapolis Indians game, visiting downtown Indianapolis and the Motor Speedway, and looking around the Indiana State fair. Throughout training, we had pockets of time to dine out in the local area, but also to talk to the American soldiers and exchange our experiences, tactics, and methods, which I found to be the most didactic and rewarding element of the deployment. Furthermore, I fashioned some excellent friendships during my exercise, both with those involved with the exchange (Photo 4) and many soldiers within the battalion. The MREP is an opportunity that I would encourage every available serviceperson to take advantage of as it gives both you and your exchange partner the chance to gain both a tactical and social understanding of one another, whilst strengthening the countries' crucial relationship.
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