Ghurkhas Train with U.S. Soldiers

Ghurkhas Train with U.S. Soldiers
Army News Service | Staff Sgt. Matthew MacRoberts | December 03, 2007

CHAUBATTIA, India -- More than 120 U.S. Soldiers trained in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains with their Indian counterparts during Exercise Yudh Abhyas in November, building on existing skills and sharing tactics.

Participation of the 25th Infantry Division Soldiers from Fort Wainwright, Alaska, in the exercise demonstrates the command’s ability to deploy as the northwest power projection platform, officials said.

The C Company “Gimlets,”3/ 21st Infantry, spent about a week training in a cantonment area before relocating and conducting a field training exercise. In cantonment, classes were conducted by the ghurkhas to familiarize C Co. with how the 5th Ghurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) conducts searches, raids and other counter-insurgency activities in a low-intensity insurgency. The Gimlets demonstrated for their hosts how the American Army handles deliberate attacks and other standard infantry operations in high-intensity insurgency environments.

The FTX ncluded various low-intensity, counter-insurgent actions; such as raids, civic assistance missions and quick reaction team operations.

“We get to train (here) in the night, and in an environment that we don’t get to in Alaska,” said C Co., 1st Sgt. Richard Beaver, who is from Hunnewell, Mo.

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“It lets our Soldiers see other countries are as proficient as we are,” said Beaver. “They may just have a different way of doing things. Their job is to train and go to war, just like us.”


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