Romanian Training Areas

Back in 2001, there was a pretty decent rumor floating around about the US pulling out of their CMTC in Grafenwoehr, Germany, and moving it to somewhere in Romania. I'm interested if anyone else had heard these rumors back then, and whether there is an appropriate large training area in Romania that could be used to maneuver a larger than battalion force.

I have been asked to speak on Romanian Security assistance at the TRADOC Combat Studies Institute this fall, and need to get "boned up" on what is available within Romania.

I would think a large maneuver area like this would help both the Romanian economy, as well as both US and Romanian militaries. It could also improve the bilateral relationship between these countries.

That's official now I think.
There will be 4 bases:
Mihail Kogalniceanu, close to port of Costanta,
Babadag, close to Black Sea aslo
Cincu
and Smardan.

Thanks Tomcat.

Can you (or someone else on the forum) give those of us across the ocean some sense of the size of these bases, and what kinds of training they could support?

It's one thing to have some buildings and an airfield... another to have training areas that can support training by companies and battalions, and small arms ranges... quite another to support realistic, force on force training by motorized units, ranges for tank gunnery, and artillery impact areas or bombing.

Or is this covered better in another thread? (or maybe a web site?)

(Yes, I'm a former US Army trainer, but I worked mostly with combat support units at company level and below)

Maybe the guys will Contribuete at this...
MK is a big airbase, USAF oiperated from here as stopoff of some C-130 for OIF.
http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Mih...097504&t=k&om=1
AFAIK Babadag is quite a big training range.

Hallo 120mm

If you have been asked to speak on "Romanian Security assistance" at the "TRADOC Combat Studies Institute" Now why on earth would you be looking for information about whats available in Romania, from a website like this.

IF YOU ARE WHAT YOU CLAIM TO BE then you will know all the current information and assesments about Romania is available from official US Military Sources. And the State Department.

Having served in the military myself, I must say, there are certain points in the way you present your posts, that make me wonder if you are who you say you are,
or if you are a fake, I have noticed a certain banned member of this forum trying to sneak back in under a lot of assumed aliases and failing badly.

Kevin in Deva.

If you read down in the following document, you'll notice that Panel #7 on THURS 0945-1115 lists a MAJ Drew Schumann. That would be me. If you still doubt it, send an e-mail to drew.schumann@us.army.mil and I'll verify it.

The reason that I am on a web-forum like this, is that the US government does not have squat for information post-1995 on Romania. If you have sources, please feel free to refer me to them; I'd gladly do the research. Open-source material, and material gathered through personal relationships is far superior, as the State Department weenies have no idea what a good piece of equipment looks like, or what a decent training area is, or what features it has.

The point you make raises a serious item for discussion: The US doesn't give a rat's ass about Romania, but they should. Romania is strategically located, is not completely mired in debt and unemployment, and from what I hear, The Romanian population is pretty pro-US.

Sorry if I let you down by being a real person. I know how fun it is to fry poseurs and trolls.

Drew

Tentative Conference Program
2006 TRADOC/CSI Military History Conference
Security Assistance: US and International Historical Perspectives


Day Time Event

8 Aug 06

TUES 0700-0745 Registration

TUES 0745-0800 Administrative Announcements

TUES 0800 MC Announces Director of CSI

TUES 0800-0805 Director of CSI Remarks
and Introduction of Keynote
Speaker

TUES 0805-0930 Keynote Address—LTG David Petraeus
Commanding General
Combined Arms Center

TUES 0930-0945 Break

TUES 0945-1115 Panel #1 (Historical Overview)

Dr. Donald Stoker, US Naval War College—The Evolution of Military Advising and Assistance, 1815-2005

Mr. Kenneth Haynes, USASATMO—Army-based overseas Security Assistance training and technical assistance over the last 20 years

Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken, The Johns Hopkins University—The Role of Advisory Support in the Long War Against Terrorist Extremist Groups

TUES 1115-1300 Lunch

Lunchtime Presenter: MAJ William Shane Story, Center of Military History—After Saddam: Stabilization or Transformation?

TUES 1300-1430 Panel #2 (Central Asia Perspective)

Dr. Robert Baumann, Command & General Staff College—The Training of Indigenous Forces in India; Russia in Iran and Central Asia.
Mr. Jake Kipp, Foreign Military Studies Office—Soviet Military Assistance to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan after the Withdrawal of Soviet Forces, 1989-1991

Mr. William Lambert, Command & General Staff College—US–Central Asian Security Cooperation: Miscommunication, Misunderstanding & Missed Opportunities

TUES 1430-1445 Break

TUES 1445-1615 Panel #3 “Breaking Out of the Box”

CPT Kris Alexander, 6th Civil Support Team (WMD), Texas ARNG—If You Build It They Will Come: The Case for Establishing Standing Reserve Civil Affairs Packages for Nation-Building and Security Assistance Operations

Mr. Thomas F. Berner, Afghan Reconstruction Group, Kabul, Afghanistan—Send in the Amateurs! Recruiting from the Private Sector to Accelerate Nation-Building: The Experience of the Afghan Reconstruction Group

CPT Roberto Bran, US State Department, Iraqi Reconstruction Management Office—Developing Weapons of Mass Construction: Expanding the Role of Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Sub-National Security Assistance

MAJ Albert Tabarez, F Team, Operational Detachment Four, Fort Shafter, Hawaii—Permanent Implants: Improving Embedded Training Team Support to Indigenous Military and Security Forces

TUES 1615-1630 Administrative Announcements

9 Aug 06

WED 0700-0745 Registration

WED 0745-0800 Administrative Announcements

WED 0800-0930 Key Speaker

Dr. Lewis Sorley, Army Historical Foundation—Security Assistance in the Vietnam War

WED 0930-0945 Break

WED 0945-1115 Panel #4 (Africa/Malaya Perspectives)

MAJ Bryan Jenkins, US Liaison Office, Djibouti—Vive L’Assistance De Securite: A Comparison of US and French Security Assistance Programs in Djibouti

Dr. Donovan Chau, Intelligence and Terrorism Analysis Group—East to East: PRC Security Assistance to the Republic of Tanzania, 1964-76

Dr. James Corum, Command & General Staff College—Building the Malayan Army and Police—Britain’s Experience During the Malayan Emergency 1948-1960

WED 1115-1300 Lunch/Tour of Fort Leavenworth

Lunchtime Presenter: LTC Kevin Farrell, US Military Academy—US-Iraqi Joint Operations

WED 1300-1430 Panel #5 (Western Hemisphere Perspective)

Dr. Bradley Coleman, US Department of State—The Alliance Transformed: US-Colombian Security Cooperation, 1950-1960

CPT Robert Mihara, Texas A&M University—Employment of the Philippine Constabulary (1901-1917) and Haitian Gendarmerie (1916-1934) in civic tasks, such as anti-corruption, against the background of counterinsurgency campaigns

Mr. Lawrence Cline, American Military University—Lessons from the US Advisory Efforts in El Salvador

WED 1430-1445 Break

WED 1445-1615 Key Speaker

Dr. Andrew Krepinevich, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments—TBD

WED 1615-1630 Administrative Announcements

10 Aug 06

THURS 0700-0745 Registration

THURS 0745-0800 Administrative Announcements

THURS 0800-0930 Panel #6 (Middle East Perspective)

Dr. Serhat Guvenc, University of Chicago—The Joint United States Military Mission for Aid to Turkey and Turkish Military Transformation in the 1950s

Mr. Walter C. Ladwig III, Merton College, Oxford—Security Assistance and Counterinsurgency: The British Experience in Oman, 1964-1975

MAJ Hank Kron, Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management—Middle Eastern Cultural Impacts on US Security Assistance

THURS 0930-0945 Break

THURS 0945-1115 Panel #7 “US Security Assistance to Romania”

Mr. Joseph M. Isenberg, Iowa State University—Introductory comment: A historical overview of the Romanian diplomacy and great power security assistance

Mr. Adrian Florea, Iowa State University—Post Cold War US security assistance to Romania and the problem of the ‘double security guarantee’- A Romanian perspective

Major Drew Schumann, Illinois State University—A transformational approach to security assistance: The case of Romania

Mr. Silviu Hariton, Central European University—Why is there no Anti-Americanism in Romania today? A cultural perspective on security assistance: the case of Romania

THURS 1115-1300 Lunch

Lunchtime Presenter: LTC Peter Newell, JMTC, Hohenfels—Building Iraqi Security Forces from the Bottom up: Task Force 2-2 and the 205th Iraqi Army Battalion in Muqdadiyah, Iraq


THURS 1300-1430 Key Speaker

Dr. Michael O’Hanlon, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution—Expanding Global Military Capacity for Humanitarian Intervention

THURS 1430-1435 Administrative Announcements

THURS 1435-1445 Director, CSI Closing Remarks

No anti-americanism in Romania? Disinfo.

p.s. 120mm, Why did you choose this subject about Romania when you had no sources to use?

take care

Hope it stays that way because Romanians will soon begin to think that the US is abusing of their friendship (referring to the incident involving Teofil Peter's death). And the way things are unfolding in Iraq (Haditha and other incidents of this type) can also hurt public opinion.

No anti-americanism in Romania? Disinfo.

p.s. 120mm, Why did you choose this subject about Romania when you had no sources to use?

take care

Imperialist, each person is free to choose whichever subject he prefers, and use this forum for research, as long as he is well intentioned and complies with the guidelines. Please stay on topic.

Well, when expressing the desire to hold a speech at a conference you are usually asked for a brief presentation or synopsis of the subject/speech you will present, so you have to have an idea about what you will say, what material you have etc.. I was curious why 120mm chose that subject if he didnt have post-1995 sources, I'm not judging his choice.

take care

New Connaught Ranger,
usually the person you are referring to is spotted before he receives the validation of the membership and it was not the case for 120 mm.

120 mm,
The traning area and firing range at Babadag are one of the biggest in Romania and are suited for battalion size exercises. Last year, 1,500 Americans and 500 Romanians participated in a joint exercise called ROMEX 05, which took place at Babadag and also used the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base.

At Cincu, last year, the Romanian Army carried out an large exercise with 3,000 soldiers, 200 AFVs and 500 vehicles, called DEMEX 05. It's pretty big.

Thanks for the good information. I'm familiar with Romex '05, but only in passing. I've been valiantly trying to put my mitts on the AARs, but they have evaporated. I have always suspected that the Army uses them as toilet paper, and my experience with this has only reinforced that viewpoint.

As far as the topic choice, I was contacted "out of the blue" to speak on it, primarily because a) I have an Eastern European/Technical background, and I have a tendency to "think out of the box" and give interesting presentations.

Once I've developed my thesis better, I'll post an outline here and see what you all think.

Drew

Really? I'm curious to know what it was that you found suspicious. I'm ex-US military myself, and I didn't find anything suspicious about anything he's posted. Quite the opposite.

The US military is substantially larger than most European militaries (I'm considering Ireland part of Europe for this, I mean no offense). And it is more widely distributed geographically than most of them too. We don't all know each other, and one can't just pick up the phone or send an email and get a correct answer on an obscure topic. Most US military personnel would stick pins in their eyes before they would ask the State Department about a foreign military (and vice versa). One finds pockets of expertise on different subjects all over the place, and not always where you expect. A major at the infantry school who just finished a year as a liaison officer with a Romanian battalion in Afghanistan may know about the Romanian military than a newly-arrived army attache in Bucharest. From my experience, the official information about allied militaries is much less complete than the information about actual or potential adversaries. Even when it exists, and you can find it, it always helps to supplement it with current, on-the-ground knowledge.

So for what it's worth, I vote we welcome MAJ Schumann and continue to ban that former member you're worried about. If 120mm gets too interested in aircraft, then I'll get worried.

Too interested in aircraft? Uh oh; I'm also a licensed Aircraft Maintenance Tech, and have done Aviation consulting/contracting work.

I think 120mm has already disclosed a lot of info about himself and we have to take it easy, no reason to be suspicious about him. He didnt do anything bad or inappropriate here. And in my view, his english is far better than the banned person we thought about.

take care