173rd Airborne Brigade
June 4, 2015
Ukrainian prime minister visits Fearless Guardian
Story by Sgt. Alex Skripnichuk
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt (right), discusses the capacity building taking place during Fearless Guardian with Lt. Col. Kyle Reed (center), commander of the U.S. Army’s 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and 1st Sgt. Bryan Morrow (left), the senior noncommissioned officer of Troop B, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, June 3, 2015, in Yavoriv, Ukraine. Paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade are in Ukraine for the first of several planned rotations to train Ukraine’s newly-formed national guard as part of Fearless Guardian, which is scheduled to last six months. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Alexander Skripnichuk, 13th Public Affairs Detachment)
YAVORIV, Ukraine: Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine Roman Waschuk and several other distinguished guests visited the International Peacekeeping and Security Center June 3, 2015, in Yavoriv, Ukraine, to observe the progression of Fearless Guardian training.
Fearless Guardian is the name for the Congress-approved, Departments of State and Defense initiative under the Global Security Contingency Fund-Ukraine. The U.S. military and the training they provide are at the request of the Ukrainian government. Paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade are in Ukraine for the first of several planned rotations to train Ukraine’s newly-reformed national guard as part of Fearless Guardian, which is scheduled to last six months.
The visitors were escorted through an urban-operations training area and witnessed soldiers from the Ukrainian national guard’s 3029th Regiment and paratroopers conduct house-clearing procedures.
“We started with individual soldiers skills such as basic marksmanship,” said Capt. Matthew Carpenter, commander of Troop B, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. “Now we are mastering group tactics on the squad, platoon and company level.”
The dignitaries held a press conference explaining the importance of Fearless Guardian, the significance of the U.S.-Ukrainian partnership and its support for maintaining the sovereignty of Ukraine.
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“We are not only defending Ukraine, we are defending the borders of Europe,” Yatsenyuk stated. “Diplomatic solutions are meaningless without a strong army to back them up.”
Pyatt expressed his pride in the work the paratroopers and the guardsmen have accomplished since the beginning of Fearless Guardian.
“I am proud to see the progress of the partnership and progress that has been achieved between the Americans in the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the Ukrainian national guard.”
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