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The 86th Infantry Brigade (Mountain) took over the training of Ukrainian troops in Germany last week as the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year.
Approximately 150 Vermont Army National Guard Soldiers replaced a similar contingent from the Tennessee Army Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment during a ceremony (above) at Tower Barracks in the Bavarian town of Grafenwoehr.
Task Force Alpine, as they are known, will now spend the next nine months training Ukrainian forces in joint maneuvers and combined arms at 7th Army Training Command facilities and ranges.
During the ceremony, Brig. Gen. Terry R. Tillis, the commanding general of the 7th ATC tasked Task Force Alpine to keep pushing the mission Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine forward.
“We have a very dynamic mission,” he said. “Don’t settle for what we just did before. I want you guys to be innovative; think outside the box; and take it to the next level.”
For the past decade, rotating Guard units have trained Ukrainian troops under the guidance of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine and the 7th ATC.
This mission is part of a larger, U.S.-led international effort critical to Ukraine’s battlefield success, officials said.
The JMTG-U mission began in 2015 in Yavoriv, Ukraine. Since relocating operations to Germany in 2022, the mission has trained more than 23,000 Ukrainian military personnel across 47 platforms and specialty events, conducting more than 235 iterations of instruction.
Col. Frank Tantillo, the commander of the 86th IBCT, the Army’s only true mountain brigade, vowed to bring toughness, adaptability and teamwork to the role.
“We understand operating in demanding terrain, complex conditions and uncertain environments,” he said. “We’re going to take this forward.”
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, with designs on quickly toppling the West-leaning government.
While the Russians have taken some ground, it has come at a very high cost in a conflict that is largely a stalemate, as are efforts to end the war.
Russian forces have suffered nearly 1.2 million casualties (killed, wounded and missing) since fighting began between the countries in February 2022, about twice what Ukrainian forces have incurred, according to estimates from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
For comparison, the United States totaled about 210,000 casualties over 20 years of fighting in Vietnam.
More than one-third of Russian casualties — about 415,000 — came in the last year alone, averaging about 35,000 a month.
Tactics have also caught the attention of observers.
Military leaders worldwide have gone to school on the increasing effectiveness of cheap drones in stopping far more expensive weapons systems on the battlefield. Ukraine has become a graveyard for tanks.
Ukraine officials said recently that drones now account for more than 80% of Russian targets destroyed in the fighting.
—Based on reporting by Capt. John Zanin,
Vermont Army National Guard
