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Exercise Allied Spirit, part of DEFENDER-Europe 20 Plus, is underway in Poland, with US and Polish soldiers working together to circumvent obstacles and move troops.

Exercise Allied Spirit, part of DEFENDER-Europe 20 Plus, is underway in Poland, with US and Polish soldiers working together to circumvent obstacles and move troops.

DEFENDER-Europe 20 was adapted to keep soldiers and civilians safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. After careful study and consideration, the US forces determined they could minimise risks by using a smaller force. Overall, 6,000 US and Polish soldiers will participate in Allied Spirit, which is being held in Poland’s Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area.

Footage includes shots of US and Polish paratroopers dropping from transport aircraft, US armoured units using a Polish floating bridge to cross a river, and interviews with US and Polish Army officers.

1. (00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – POLISH PARATROOPERS WITH THE POLISH ARMY’S 6TH AIRBORNE BRIGADE PARACHUTING INTO A DROP ZONE FROM TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT
2. (01:09) VARIOUS SHOTS – US ARMY BRADLEY INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLES AND HUMVEES CROSSING A RIVER VIA POLISH FLOATING BRIDGE
3. (03:36) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) CAPTAIN ROBIN JOSEPH HAAKE, COMMANDER, 49TH PUBLIC AFFAIRS DETACHMENT

“The purpose of this exercise, Allied Spirit within DEFENDER-Europe 20, is to enhance interoperability between the United States and NATO Allies, particularly Poland in this case. The exercise has spanned over numerous iterations that encompass a wet gap crossing exercise, a breach exercise and an airborne operation.”

1. (03:56) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) CAPTAIN ROBIN JOSEPH HAAKE, COMMANDER, 49TH PUBLIC AFFAIRS DETACHMENT

“What's happening now is there's about to be an airborne operation – insertion of over 500 Polish paratroopers from the Polish 6th Airborne Brigade.”

1. (04:04) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) CAPTAIN ROBIN JOSEPH HAAKE, COMMANDER, 49TH PUBLIC AFFAIRS DETACHMENT

“River crossing in this case is a joint operation between the US and Poland, by combining bridging assets and engineers and mechanised forces. The complexity of it is, is that a massive force needs to come to a halt and take time to cross. Whereas on the far side is the enemy and therefore this airborne operation is critical to interrupting their operations and degrading their ability to target US forces while they are working together to cross the river.”

1. (04:33) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) CAPTAIN ROBIN JOSEPH HAAKE, COMMANDER, 49TH PUBLIC AFFAIRS DETACHMENT

“The pandemic did degrade the exercise and modified it. However, the important thing to remember is that the exercise was not cancelled altogether and that an exercise of this size was still achievable even with the pandemic, as all safety measures were taken prior to the exercise and currently during, with social distancing and constant testing and quarantine.”

1. (04:52) SOUNDBITE (POLISH) MAJOR MARCEL PODHORODECKI, HEAD OF PRESS OFFICE, DEFENDER-EUROPE 2020 PLUS

“Now, here in Drawsko Pomorskie at the exercise, we have around 4,000 American troops and over 2,000 Polish troops, of which 1,000 are from the 12th Polish Mechanised Brigade from Szczecin.”

1. (05:09) SOUNDBITE (POLISH) MAJOR MARCEL PODHORODECKI, HEAD OF PRESS OFFICE, DEFENDER-EUROPE 2020 PLUS

“The DEFENDER-Europe 20 Plus exercise mainly consists of two major events : movement over a big water barrier. At our Drawsko Training Area we have this kind of barrier – this is Zły Łęg lake – and this movement will take place tomorrow. Over 100 equipment units, both Polish and American – American Abrams tanks and PT- 91 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicle, our Rosomak technical reconnaissance vehicle – will pass over the wide water barrier .”

1. (05:48) SOUNDBITE (POLISH) MAJOR MARCEL PODHORODECKI, HEAD OF PRESS OFFICE, DEFENDER-EUROPE 2020 PLUS

“For us Polish Army soldiers, exercises with Allied armies from the US are not new. We have been exercising for many years during many international exercises – among others, Saber Strike, Anakonda and many others which we carried out together with Allies from the US over the years. Additionally, all missions: in Iraq, in Afghanistan, where we were fighting together hand-in-hand with partisans. So for us, it is allows us to improve – matching tactic rules and integrating in order to cooperate during missions, or war, we understand each other wordlessly .”

1. (06:39) SOUNDBITE (POLISH) MAJOR MARCEL PODHORODECKI, HEAD OF PRESS OFFICE, DEFENDER-EUROPE 2020 PLUS

“The exercise has been modified because of the world wide pandemic, but here in Drawsko Pomorskie soldiers are prepared for this. Polish soldiers went through a two-week long quarantine to be able to exercise with American troops. American soldiers also have been here quite a long time and they all were tested for the COVID-19 virus, and Polish soldiers also underwent tests.”

1. (07:12) SOUNDBITE (POLISH) LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROBERT KRUZ, HEAD OF TRAINING, POLISH ARMY 6TH AIRBORNE BRIGADE

“Mainly we are testing our command and operational capabilities , interoperability with our Allies and procedures that are NATO standards. Our main purpose is to stop the adversary that is coming into Zły Łęg lake area.”