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1 of 12Sergeant Stephen Murphy with the Fourth of the 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team monitors an airdrop from a C-17 aircraft that took off from Nuremberg, Germany before it drops members of his unit at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland on June 15, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
2 of 12American soldiers from the Fourth of the 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team monitor as a howitzer drops from a C-17 aircraft that took off from Nuremberg, Germany before American soldiers parachute to the ground at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland on June 15, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
3 of 12American soldiers with the Fourth of the 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team proceed to assemble a howitzer following an airdrop from a C-17 aircraft that took off from Nuremberg, Germany and dropped at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland on June 15, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
4 of 12American soldiers with the Fourth of the 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team examine their maps and communications following an airdrop from a C-17 aircraft that took off from Nuremberg, Germany and dropped at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland on June 15, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
5 of 12Backpacks belonging to the paratroopers of the Fourth of the 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team lay on the ground following an airdrop from a C-17 aircraft that took off from Nuremberg, Germany and dropped at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland on June 15, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
6 of 12American soldiers with the Second Battalion, Seventh Infantry Regiment, Third Infantry Division based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia beside a Humvee before a live fire exercise with a German-made Danish Leopard 2A5 tank on the horizon at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland on June 16, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
7 of 12American soldiers with the Second Battalion, Seventh Infantry Regiment, Third Infantry Division based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia in an American Abrams M1A2 tank in position for a live fire exercise as seen through the window of a Humvee at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland on June 16, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
8 of 12American soldiers with the Second Battalion, Seventh Infantry Regiment, Third Infantry Division based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia fire from American Abrams M1A2 tanks during a live fire exercise at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland on June 16, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
9 of 12An airdrop of American soldiers in the 173rd Airborne, First Battalion, 503 Infantry Regiment parachute in from a C-130 during an airfield seizure exercise on the Swidwin Airfield in Poland on June 16, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
10 of 12American soldiers with the 173rd Airborne, First Battalion, 503 Infantry Regiment maintain their position on a grassy knoll after parachuting in from a C-130 during an airfield seizure exercise on the Swidwin Airfield in Poland on June 16, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
11 of 12American soldiers with the 173rd Airborne load and fire an M119A3 howitzer at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland on June 18, 2015.Amanda Rivkin -
12 of 12American soldiers with Delta Company, Second Battalion, Seventh Infantry Regiment of the Third Infantry Division in M1A2 Abrams tanks during a tank training exercise practicing infiltration at the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in Poland on June 12, 2015.Amanda Rivkin
Thousands of NATO troops took part in a two-week exercise in Poland and the Baltic states, practicing sea landings, airlifts and assaults, the Associated Press reports.
The series of massive maneuvers, each with its own code name, took place on NATO’s eastern flank and in the Baltic Sea, where 5,000 troops from 17 NATO and partner nations took part in the maritime BALTOPS exercises. This year, the naval maneuvers took place without Russia.
Freelance photographer Amanda Rivkin was embedded with multi-national troops in Drawsko Pomorskie, a northwestern Polish town. “The big buzz word was interoperability,” she said, referring to NATO’s goal to show that its members can cooperate in the face of a potential crisis. “This is clearly being done as a show of force against Russia’s show of force in Crimea and in the Baltic,” she added.
Polish and Baltic state leaders have made it clear that they want to host large numbers of U.S. and NATO forces as a deterrent in the face of a resurgent Russia, the AP reports. “We must know how to defend ourselves. It is our goal to assure a stable order,” said Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyn
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