US, Romanian SOF undergo combined mission training

The U.S. Air Force's 7th Special Operation Squadron,assigned to 352nd Special Operation Wing and based out of Mildenhall, England,deployed to Bacau, Romania, from March 10-15, 2019, to conduct missionessential tasks, and simultaneously, familiarize Romanian SOF (ROU SOF) withthe CV-22 Osprey.

“The importance is not only for the commonality of ourtactics, techniques and procedures between U.S. forces and partner forces butcombining that within the NATO spectrum to make sure we are all operating inthe same format,” said a U.S. Air Force Special Operations Capt., the missioncommander for the training event and flight lead pilot. “Being able to getthese staged drills out of the way now in a safe and effective trainingenvironment allows us to be able to have the confidence to forward deploy inany contingency operation.”

The 7th SOS operates the CV-22B Osprey throughout the entirerange of military operations in support of conventional and special operations.The 7th SOS executes this mission at night, in adverse weather, performinglong-range insertion, extraction and resupply missions in hostile, denied andpolitically sensitive territories. U.S. and ROU SOF conducted day and night fastrope infiltration and exfiltration operations (FRIES) and low-level flying.These capabilities are something ROU SOF are (trained and) skilled in; however,this was their first time conducting FRIES out of the CV-22.

“Everyone here had used fast rope before, on differentplatforms, so they understood their techniques,” said U.S. Air Force StaffSgt., 7th SOS, special mission aviator. “One of the main differentiators fromour side was just reminding them that the CV-22 creates a lot more downwash andit’s a much different experience when it comes to deploying out of ouraircraft, compared to a conventional rotary wing aircraft.”

Through these pieces of training, SOF members demonstrateand strengthen partner nation relationships and air operations in the EuropeanTheatre.

“The ROU SOF was able to extend the CV-22 familiarizationtraining invitation to other units that are not co-located here at Bacau,” saidthe mission commander. “So they were able to cycle through as many of theirspecial operation ground forces as they could, during this timeframe.”

Along with developing combined leaders, this deployment gavethe US SOF members the opportunity to establish professional development at thetactical level.

“I’ve been flying for the Air Force for 15 years, and all mytraining has been stateside, so even for me in the short time I’ve moved to RAFMildenhall,” said U.S. Air Force Capt., an instructor pilot for the 7th SOS.“I’ve learned a lot working with Allied partners, whether it’s working throughlanguage barriers or just the different techniques. It’s eye-opening.”

The 7th SOS mission commander was very thankful for theability to utilize the diverse NATO terrain and base resources to accomplishtheir objectives.

“The Romanian Government and Air Force Base here in Bacauhave been extremely supportive with their ability to reach out to us and help,”said the mission commander. “They’ve been able to work on request, with shortnotice, to include base access, providing us workspace and just being very accommodatingwhen it comes to airspace and tower-controlled patterns that they run here onthe airfield.”

This collaborative training event allows each force toimprove its individual and collective capabilities, and the 352nd SOW and ROUSOF will continue to train shoulder-to-shoulder in similar exercises.

“The biggest takeaway for me, is the Romanian partners aremore than willing to host us, but they are thirsty to work with us as far ascontinued training,” said the mission commander. “Looking forward to comingback, not just in Bacau but into Romania in general, so that we can work in thedynamic air space that they have, and their terrain, but also working with theROU SOF members who seem to be very much interested in working with specializedair power like the tilt-rotor Osprey.”