Georgian soldiers from Alpha Company, Special Mountain Battalion conducted a company cordon and search operation in a local village aboard Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels, Germany, Feb. 16. The operation was a part of a month-long Mission Rehearsal Exercise prior to Georgian Battalions deploying to Afghanistan in support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
At 10:30 a.m., Georgian Soldiers with Alpha Company set up a cordon around the local village to search for an insurgent cell that might possibly be containing bomb-making material and one of the Taliban's bomb makers. Their mission was to apprehend a high value target and secure possible improvised explosive device material.
Georgian troops successfully set up a cordon and secured the village quickly to make sure there were no vehicles leaving the area, said U.S. Army Capt. Andres R. Donoso, an Army observer controller, during the mission debrief.
After setting up the cordon around the village, Georgian troops communicated with the village's elders and a police chief before executing the mission and apprehending the suspected bomb maker. They were also successful at finding and securing bomb-making material at the site.
"The internal communication between radio operators, watch officer and Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company was great during the operation," said Sgt. Matt Goings, a Georgia Training Team member for Alpha Company. "The Quick reaction force also did a fantastic job; they loaded up and responded at a moment's notice."
Later in the day, Georgian soldiers continued their patrolling within their area of operation, remaining vigilant and continuing to work with local village elders and police officials to keep the village safe.
"This unit has been very special to me, they are used to working in small teams but had some issues when it came to transitioning to full battalion-level operations; I have seen very significant improvement in their ability to think and analyze each situation going from sweeping operations to tactics, as well as their understanding of Afghanistan's techniques, tactics and procedures that will make them successful on the battlefield." said 1st Lt. Benjamin D. Zumstein, Georgia Liaison Team member for the Georgian Special Mountain Battalion.
Each rotation of the Georgia Deployment Program - International Security Assistance Force (GDP-ISAF) consists of a six-month pre-deployment training in the Republic of Georgia with the final Mission Rehearsal Exercise conducted at the JMRC in Hohenfels, Germany.
United States Marine Corps Forces, Europe is the lead component for coordinating the GDP-ISAF program, while the Marine Corps Security Cooperation Group is the lead command responsible for training the Georgian battalions with support from other Marine Corps units.
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