This year participants of the multinational Exercise Saber Strike 2014 in Latvia are not only training to execute a spectrum of operations shoulder to shoulder with NATO allies but are also sharing experience of unit-level training successfully. Day or night, rain or sunshine, in a battle of any kind - offensive, defensive or counterattack, the performance of exercise participants is carefully followed by OCT (Observer-Coacher-Trainer) personnel from different countries trained for this purpose.
The OCTs are military servicemembers experienced in commanding manoeuvre and combat support units. It is worth highlighting that non-regular OCTs trained by Lithuania are also gathering priceless experience at Exercise Saber Strike 2014. It is unique opportunity for them to accumulate their funds of knowledge as OCTs," one of the OCTs representing the Lithuanian Armed Forces at the exercise, Major Aurimas Kuprys, Head of the Evaluation Section of the Juozas Lukša Training Centre, Lithuanian Land Force, said.
The OCT Course is delivered at the Juozas Lukša Training Centre of the Lithuanian Land Force. The course is aimed at training qualified soldiers for the Lithuanian Land Force capable of planning and executing unit training, evaluation and coaching during national and multinational level exercises (training events).
Four officers of the Lithuanian Armed Forces are involved in Saber Strike 2014 as OCTs: two of them are serving at the Evaluation section of the Training Centre, and the other two are non-regular.
It is very interesting and absolutely valuable to watch the OCTs from different countries perform their functions. When talking to my colleagues I have found out that the majority of them have significant experience of participating in actual combat actions. Undoubtedly, that makes this exercise and the process of training troops even more valuable," 1LT Šarūnas Bajoras one of the non-regular OCT was promising to apply his experience gathered at Saber Strike 2014 for training Lithuanian military personnel.
Photo credit: MSG Lina Ambroževičiūtė
