For 11 months, Main Cody Fields with the Satan Brigade labored and led coaching workouts in Toruń, Poland with North Atlantic Treaty Group partnering militaries. The rotation was a part of the Atlantic Resolve. Now again together with his household the Abilene space, Fields recounted his duties and the individuals he interacted with in the course of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Fields is a battalion operations officer for 1-5 Discipline Artillery within the First Brigade Double Brigade. He and the remainder of the Satan Brigade left Ft. Riley for Europe in August 2021. The rotation was scheduled to final for 9 months, however ended up being 11 months. The brigade was stationed in Lithuania, Estonia, Romania and principally Poland. This Atlantic Resolve rotation was Fields’ first.
Fields mentioned he aided within the planning and group of transferring the troops and gear to Europe. He mentioned the army motion for this Atlantic Resolve is totally different from when the U.S. Army moved troops to the Center East, in his expertise. A lot of the gear was already of their Center East bases. Solely the troopers, their weapons and some containers can be despatched on an airplane. With the rotations to Europe, the military is concentrated on having an “expeditionary mindset,” Fields mentioned, which means the whole lot of the brigade’s gear and automobiles are moved with the brigade. About 2,000 items of kit are moved.
“Even placing it into extra perspective is the stuff they did throughout World Struggle II when you concentrate on energy projection and militaries and potential placing half one million troopers on a special continent with all their gear. We’re doing a small little piece of that. It’s tough, it truly is,” he mentioned.
Coaching with NATO companions
In Toruń, Fields led the battalion in coaching workouts for basic coaching and working 18 self-propelled cannons concurrently. Total, he educated the battalion to change into “licensed” within the army’s opinion. Fields and the battalion additionally participated with different NATO army companions in workouts akin to Operation Victory Eagle and Operation Mixed Resolve.
“It’s not simply the simulated, war-fighting kind of coaching. You’re taking your entire battalion from the center of Poland, put them on a prepare and your gear on a prepare. That prepare has to cross worldwide boundaries,” Fields mentioned. “It’s bought to get all the best way right down to Germany and you then bought to unload it. In some instances, you must drive slightly bit additional down German roads or Polish roads. It sounds pretty straightforward, nevertheless it’s massive muscle motion.”
Fields mentioned his battalion interacted and educated with a number of nations’ militaries. Primarily, Fields and his battalion labored with the Polish, Latvians and Lithuanians. Within the coaching workouts, the battalion labored alongside these nations and the Italians, Germans, different European militaries and Canadians.
“I mentioned the Canadians as a result of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and some others have a NATO Enhanced Ahead Presence Battlegroups. Nations contribute troopers and gear to those bases, and Canada has the lead in Latvia, and so we labored intently with them to coordinate coaching, area and all the pieces else.”
Wanting again, Fields mentioned the US Army might study from European militaries. Since some European armies are smaller in measurement, their small models, akin to platoons, are “extremely proficient,” Fields mentioned.
“A lot of what we do is so massive in scope,” he mentioned. “Our NATO companions do a very good job on the fundamentals and the basics. It was actually thrilling to coach with them and see what they’re able to.”
Toruń’s inhabitants is round 200,000. The town is alongside the Vistula River and is stuffed with medieval historical past. Fields mentioned troopers had the chance to discover Poland in the course of the weekends earlier than the invasion started.
“In Toruń, you had the medieval metropolis, however actually a number of the cities had a medieval downtown space,” Fields mentioned. “Kraków, which is in southern Poland, is near the place Auschwitz was, so troopers might go take a tour of Auschwitz. They might go to Warsaw, which is the capital. We actually had fairly a little bit of freedom to go discover and do issues all through the nation which, in case you put your self within the sneakers of a 18, 19-year-old soldier who could have joined the army to see the world, we luckily gave them that chance.”
The Satan Brigade was the closest U.S. army unit to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, Fields mentioned. In January and February, the brigade knew the Russians army was amassing. Main as much as the invasion, Fields mentioned the brigade had not obtained any official orders regarding the Russians. At the moment although, the brigade ready “for any eventuality,” Fields mentioned, with coaching, automobiles had been packed, gear and artillery was ready to be moved at any time.
“It was very spectacular to see how everybody actually got here collectively as a result of actually you simply didn’t know. You can be no change. You can be ahead like we did, additional making certain our companions. Or, for all we knew, in two months we had been going to be heading east, and so we needed to put together for the worst,” he mentioned.
When the invasion started Feb. 24, Fields mentioned his battalion was instructed to push troopers and gear into Latvia and Lithuania “quickly.” The motion arrayed the battalion from south in Poland to north in Latvia.
“Actually I’d say the significance of that was standing by our NATO companions and saying ‘we see the menace to the east, and we don’t know if there’s going to be a battle, but when there’s a battle, we’re right here for you.’”
Fields mentioned he by no means severely thought his battalion can be despatched to the entrance traces, besides in the course of the preliminary day of the invasion. He feared the Russians would “roll over” the Ukrainians, primarily based on the expertise and prowess the Russian army confirmed in the course of the Russo-Ukrainian Struggle, which began in 2014. If Russia invade Ukraine efficiently and shortly sufficient, Fields mentioned he feared the Russians would resolve to proceed their conquest onto different nations.
“However then we began seeing (the Russians) get slowed down and the Ukrainians with the ability to stall them slightly bit. I feel it simply sort of deescalated from there,” Fields mentioned. “However once more, I feel the Russians are in it for the long-haul. Possibly they do win within the Ukraine, however perhaps it takes 5-10 years.”
Fields mentioned his brigade commander reminded him and his comrades the invasion of Ukraine is the most important floor invasion in Europe since D-Day. Suffice it to say the invasion is a “massive deal” to Japanese Europe, Fields mentioned.
Fields mentioned he noticed the invasion’s impression from two angles. First was from the Ukrainian refugees. The brigade helped some the refugees get to Toruń, although the Polish army primarily dealt with them. Fields mentioned the refugees he spoke with all feared their houses can be destroyed and members of the family useless in the event that they returned dwelling.
“What I used to be impressed with was their resolve. You meet moms of kids whose husbands had been combating and also you’d ask them like, not in these precise phrases however, ‘is all of it price it to you guys.’ ‘After all, that is our freedom.’ I talked to some: ‘if we have now to die, we have now to die. Ukraine is our homeland.’”
The second angle was from Ukrainian troopers. NATO militaries would fly in Ukrainian models to coach them on particular items of kit. The unit can be flown in to coach for a few week at a time, then be flown again to the entrance traces. Fields mentioned he skilled coaching the Ukrainians.
“This was in Could, however for the reason that warfare began in February, they already misplaced 50 guys from their unit,” Fields mentioned with regard in regards to the basic state of Ukrainian models coming to coach. “They might present up drained, gaunt; the one method you could possibly describe it was shell-shocked, but in addition very devoted. You need to see somebody who’s excited to go to class day-after-day and find out about a brand new piece of kit, attempt the one that’s going to make use of it to battle Russians who’re destroying their homeland.”
Due to the fixed communication and motion with European militaries, Fields mentioned the bond between NATO troops has by no means been stronger from his perspective as somebody with a place on the bottom stage. If Russian President Vladimir Putin was planning on weakening the bonds of NATO nations, the other occurred on the bottom stage.
As a result of invasion, the brigade’s rotation was prolonged for an additional two months. Fields mentioned his comrades anticipated the extension when the invasion started. Fields mentioned his superiors knowledgeable him and different officers of the two-month extension Feb. 23 a day earlier than the invasion, however needed to preserve the knowledge categorised for a few days.
Now dwelling, Fields had a month of reprieve earlier than returning to work. Together with his household, he’s been reintegrating himself into his household’s life by being an additional set of palms and step by step taking cost of sure elements of the household. Total, it’s “improbable” to be again together with his household within the U.S., he mentioned.
“My spouse (Tara Fields) has been doing it by herself with the 4 youngsters for 11 months. Three — on the time — in class, one at dwelling, three youngsters taking part in sports activities, two of them taking part in sports activities yr spherical, (Tara Fields) simply began a brand new enterprise. It wasn’t the time we needed to begin the enterprise, nevertheless it simply occurred to be the time when she did. So to handle the family, 4 youngsters and a brand new enterprise with out shedding your thoughts was fairly spectacular. I credit score her for that.”
