This year, Soldiers from the Oregon Army National Guard trained side by side with Canadian forces during a first-time joint effort during Exercise Cougar Rage 18. Held in April at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the State of Washington, the annual exercise focused on integrating force support and soldier skill sets to improve the long-term readiness of both the U.S. and Canadian forces.
During the exercise, 17 Soldiers from Oregon’s 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, attached to Canada’s 39th Brigade Group. The Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers were invited by the Canadians specifically to participate in the four-day exercise.
“When planning for the exercise, we traveled down to Oregon to invite [the 162nd] into the integration process of the MPC [Mission Planning Center] and other aspects of the exercise,” explained Maj. Pawel Dudek, Canadian Plans and Policy for the 39th Canadian Brigade Group. “In the past, we have trained many times with U.S. military, but this is the first time a scout formation has joined our actual formation out in the field.”
Planning for Cougar Rage 18 began in January of this year. SFC Tyson Bumgardner and CPT Troy Bagnall, both of the 162nd Infantry Regiment, attended multiple planning conferences with the 39th to thoroughly prepare for the exercise.
“We were invited by the Canadians to participate, so CPT Bagnall and I made three trips to Fort Lewis to participate in their planning and to learn how that [process] works for the Canadian army,” explained SFC Bumgardner, U.S. scout platoon sergeant for the exercise.
As might be expected, the Canadian force works a bit differently than U.S. forces. Hence, the planning meetings were vital to the success of the exercise.
“Some of the big challenges were trying to understand the planning requirements for the Canadian side,” said CPT Bagnall, U.S. exercise planner for Cougar Rage. “Some of the training requirements were similar to ours, but they conduct them differently, so they plan for that differently.”
Despite their planning differences, the conferences were deemed a success.
“I liked integrating with the Canadian forces,” said CPT Bagnall. “They are pretty easy to work with and they were very flexible with some of the things we had to work out with our section. Up front, we told them that we were really trying to use this exercise to work out some of the kinks in training for our 2018 XCTC [Exportable Combat Training Capability] requirements. They were very flexible with letting us change the exercise dynamic in order to accommodate that.”
Thanks to the proactive planning shown by the leadership of both units, Cougar Rage resulted in valuable training for both the Oregonian and Canadian Soldiers.
“It was a big opportunity for my platoon to get a dress rehearsal for our eventual AT [annual training] in California,” SFC Bumgardner noted. “The exercise was executed well by all parts. It was great to train with an international force like the Canadian army. Our coordination with the Canadians was crucial. If we had not done that, [Cougar Rage] would have been a failure.”
The Oregon Guard Soldiers spent over a year preparing for Cougar Rage – an exercise that would test their strengths in multiple areas.
“They’ve been training hard for the mission for over a year and a half,” SFC Bumgardner said. “[Cougar Rage] was about physical fitness, knowing battle drills and keeping weapons as clean and dry as possible – because it was pretty bad weather the whole time. It was an outstanding training.”
The first two days of the exercise consisted of weapons qualifications and rappelling. This led up to a culminating event at which the integrated teams were tasked with the mission of attacking and holding “Leschi Town,” a mock village at Fort Lewis.
SFC Bumgardner explained, “Our mission during this exercise was to get out ahead of the Canadians; to get eyes on the site, collect intelligence and report it back to their company commanders prior to the attack on the village.”
The attack on Leschi Town was a highlight of the exercise for some participants.
“I would say my favorite moment was when we finally got to the village and were descending the buildings with [the Canadians],” said SPC Joshua Lebow of the 2-162nd. “Being able to watch them work and go through the village along with our guys was pretty cool.”
The culminating exercise displayed how well the Oregon Soldiers’ dedication to training prepared them for the event.
“The opposing force was supposed to find us, so they were given our exact grid,” explained SPC Cameron Atherton, also of the 2-162nd Infantry Regiment. “We were hidden so well that they literally couldn’t find us. There was one point where we were called up on the radio and told to take a shot so that they could know where we were. That was a highlight for me. I was proud.”
“We got to participate in that tactical event all day,” SFC Bumgardner said. “To me, that was the best day of the exercise because we got to fire our weapons, maneuver and interact with [soldiers] on the radio to support their attack.”
According to SFC Bumgardner, the camaraderie between the two forces was also a highlight of the exercise.
“The morning of day two was a really good time,” he recalled. “We had a little pre-party with the Canadians. We got to drink some beer and eat with them, which was great. I hope we get to work with them again.”
Working closely with the Canadian soldiers proved beneficial to the Guard members in unexpected ways. Attaching directly to Canada’s 39th revealed that the two units are actually structured quite similarly, according to CPT Bagnall. This led to increased value in training together, as any new or different techniques the Oregon Guard Soldiers learned from the Canadian soldiers could be immediately put into use without the need for high levels of adaptation.
Ultimately, the main differences between the two forces lay in their communication techniques.
“During the exercise, communication was one of the largest issues because we use different communication platforms,” explained CPT Bagnall. “There are security requirements on both sides where we cannot use some pieces of their [communications] equipment and they cannot use some pieces of our [communications] equipment, so we had to iron those issues out.
“It also took time to understand some of the nomenclature [the Canadians] use,” CPT Bagnall continued. “A lot of things are similar between the Canadian side and the U.S. side, but they are called by different names. Trying to understand the two was not so much a challenge, but just something that had to be [worked through].”
Reflecting on the similarities between the two forces, the Oregon Soldiers noted their level of respect and appreciation for their northern counterparts.
“Even though it’s a different country, a lot of how we run our armies is the same,” said SPC Lebow. “We can learn things from them and they learn things from us, so we all are able to grow. It was cool meeting other guys who are trying to do the same thing that you are for their country.”
“[The Canadians] don’t have a lot of the equipment platforms that we do,” CPT Bagnall said. “But they still are able to get the job done – sometimes even better than us – using some of the equipment we have on our side.”
“What I noticed that was cool about the Canadians was while they were not nearly as equipped as we were, one thing they had [a lot of] was the camaraderie,” SPC Atherton commented. “They loved what they were doing. I just took away how important that is.”
The respect and appreciation for teamwork was not unique to the U.S. Soldiers. It was fully reciprocated by the soldiers of the 39th.
“This was my first time to work with American Soldiers, and I learned a lot in the experience, from how the snipers prepare their camouflage in the field, to how they hide their depths inside the buildings,” said Pvt. Chakkathon Duangkaew of the 39th Canadian Brigade Group. “It was really worthwhile.”
In addition to successfully building relationships with the Canadian soldiers, the Soldiers of the 162nd Infantry Regiment succeeded in using Cougar Rage 18 as an opportunity to prepare for their XCTC rotation in California the following summer.
“When we got to California, the scout platoon was outstanding,” said SFC Bumgardner. “It was a chance to operate outside, use our vehicles and put our hands on our equipment one more time. I think Cougar Rage definitely prepared us for that.”
SPC Atherton said he is thankful he can take the lessons he learned during Cougar Rage 18 and apply them to future exercises and deployments.
“[Cougar Rage] was an extremely valuable experience,” he remarked. “[When] working overseas, we’ll be doing the same things. Doing this up front helps us know what to expect. I wish we could do it on a daily basis.”
BY STAFF WRITER Tatyana White-Jenkins
