03.19.2024
Story by Staff Sgt. Evan Cooper
10th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
NEGOTINO, North Macedonia – U.S. Army Green Berets with 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) conducted a Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) exercise with Special Forces Battalion ‘Wolves’, Army of the Republic of North Macedonia, and Special Anti-Terrorist Unit ‘Tigers’, in order to strengthen military interoperability between the two NATO allies in Negotino, Republic of North Macedonia, from Jan. 29 to Feb. 22, 2024.
JCETs offer U.S. Special Operations Forces (USSOF) opportunities to train in regional environments from which they may deploy, while in exchange, the host nation’s special forces units receive the benefits of training with U.S. Special Forces personnel.
“This is our opportunity to practice teaching a partner force on unconventional warfare actions as well as the other principal tasks of a special forces team,” said the team commander with 10th SFG (A). “We bolster our fighting force by taking partners with us all the time [on operations], so this training is very beneficial for us to know how to train partner forces.”
A Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha (SFOD-A) team assigned to 10th SFG (A) was responsible for providing tactical training to the North Macedonia forces by training them on breaching techniques, bundle drops, demolitions, small arms weapons training and more. Although the team was focused on training, they had an opportunity to receive language and cultural exposure to North Macedonia society and exchanges in tactics.
An additional key task of this JCET was to build rapport with the partner force. The Green Berets immersed themselves within the North Macedonian culture and language, which provided them with the ability to communicate and move together in a more efficient manner.
“I’ve been in meetings with [the Wolves’ and Tigers’] command elements and was able to understand what they were saying, so it’s extremely beneficial to communicate quickly and efficiently,” said the team commander.
According to the DODI 3902.1, during JCETs, the exchange of knowledge, tactics and culture are the largest part of the desired outcome of the training. Likewise, these desired outcomes strengthen the strategic goals of the geographic combatant commander.
North Macedonia became a full member of NATO in 2020 after spending nearly 15 years of working towards full acceptance. During this time, troops from North Macedonia took part of various NATO missions, including the International Security Assistance Force and the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
“The USSOF community gets a lot of experiences from conflicts all over the world and with that knowledge we can have a chance to get updated information on battlefield tactics,” said team intelligence sergeant with Special Forces Battalion ‘Wolves’, Army of the Republic of North Macedonia. “This training is a great opportunity to learn of what’s new on the battlefield so that we can improve and adapt. The nature of war is constantly changing, so for this JCET we focused on some of the basic core components of tactical operations.”
The JCET conducted with the ‘Wolves’ and ‘Tigers’ included extensive training with the U.S. lead K-9 and advanced training with the USFOD-A’s team Intelligence Sergeant. The JCET ended with a three-day culminating event that incorporated training and tactics learned throughout the duration of the exercise.
“I loved working with the North Macedonian ‘Wolves’ and the ‘Tigers’, they are both great to work with and the nation as a whole is eager to participate with USSOF and NATO,” said the U.S. Team Commander. “I applaud their efforts to make this training work and their commitment to the overall exercise.”
This Story was first published on DVIDS
