Synopsis
For every NATO exercise, there’s a blue team – the “good guys” who come to train and test their skills – and the “bad guys”, who put them to the test by taking on the role of the enemy.
At the US Army’s Hohenfels Training Area in southern Germany, the bad guys are One-Four - First Battalion, Fourth Infantry Regiment. Based in Europe, their full-time job is making sure NATO Allies get a bracingly realistic training experience. Far more than walking targets, One-Four’s soldiers simulate everything from conventional warfare to hybrid tactics, working day and night to keep the training audience on their toes. They make sure that NATO’s forces walk out of Hohenfels sharper and better prepared than when they walked in.
NATO video producers joined One-Four during Exercise Saber Junction 22. They signed on with the unit’s infamous Scout Platoon, which is often tasked with probing Allied defences under the cover of darkness. Over the course of 24 hours, they found out exactly what it takes to fill this demanding - and for Allied forces, crucially important - role: creativity, stamina and a good sense of humour.
The exercise Saber Junction 22, involved more than 4,400 participants from Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Transcript
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
LT COL JOSHUA WILES
Commander, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, US Army
“My scout platoon from One-Four infantry, they have a reputation of a mythical creature that sneaks up at night and takes things off the battlefield, or detains personnel. There is a thrill to being the “bad guy”.”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“For every NATO exercise, you have two sides
played by NATO Allies and partners. You have the “good guys” and then you have the opposing force or OPFOR, they’re the “bad guys”.”
--VOICEOVER--
I’m here at Hohenfels Training Area in southern Germany, home of the US Army’s First Battalion, Fourth Infantry Regiment, or “One-Four”.
One-Four is infamous throughout NATO for providing a bracingly realistic training experience.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“These guys are pretty good at what they do.”
--VOICEOVER--
Join me as I try to get inside the mindset of One-Four and see what it takes to be the opposing force.
— TEXT ON SCREEN —
THINK LIKE THE
“BAD GUYS”
--VOICEOVER--
Welcome to Hoehenfels, home base for One-Four. I’ll be joining them for 24 hours to see how they test NATO Allies in an exercise scenario. First stop is to get some new threads.
--UPSOT—
“And then this just goes…clip it to here”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“Got it. Okay cool, thank you.
Just got to sign?
Okay.
All right. Cool.
I didn’t accidentally just enlist in the US Army, did I?”
--UPSOT member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“No, you didn’t!”
--VOICEOVER—
Then, I signed on to a reconnaissance mission with One-Four’s Scouts. A platoon notorious for being somewhat creative in their methods.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
LT COL JOSHUA WILES
Commander, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, US Army
Our day-to-day job is to be an adversary for ground forces in Europe, driving our Allies to think and develop techniques to be better prepared for a real adversary if it ever came to that.”
--VOICEOVER—
Our mission: sneak up on a NATO airfield and observe its helicopters without being detected by any of the guards.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“We’re trying to stay concealed so they can make a sketch of the airfield. I mean it’s kind of like a really intense game of hide-and-go-seek. We’re sitting here hiding and watching them, and they have no idea we’re here.”
--UPSOT member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“You’ve got three minutes to finish that one. It doesn’t gotta be beautiful, just got to make sense.”
--VOICEOVER—
With the sketch complete, it was time to make a stealthy retreat. But when we heard a convoy of Humvees approaching, we had to dive for cover.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“Right now, there are dudes like 10 metres away in that direction. So, we’re just doing our best impression of a potted plant. And staying as still as we can.”
--VOICEOVER—
Then disaster struck. I was spotted by one of the guards.
--UPSOT Guard —
“Who goes there?”
--VOICEOVER—
While the rest of the team had made a clean getaway, I was stuck.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“I don’t know what to do right now.”
--VOICEOVER—
Then help came in the form of an American transport plane.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“Just make a break for it.”
--VOICEOVER—
I used the noise to cover my escape. Mission complete. Until I saw the disappointed faces of the scouts.
--UPSOT member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“Did you stop when he called out?”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“Yeah, but then when the planes came over, we split.”
--UPSOT member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“Okay, Roger. They head one of us when we got close. They called out a halt, and then we kept moving. If you want, I’ll send you the pictures and sketches we took.”
--UPSOT on radio, member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“Yeah, that’ll be good.”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“We learned something. They were alert. They heard us coming. And I don’t want to say I compromised the team, but I probably compromised the team.
--VOICEOVER—
With a bruised ego, feeling like a liability, I realised I still had a lot to learn about what it takes to play the opposing force.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
LT COL JOSHUA WILES
Commander, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, US Army
“I have learned exponentially from Allies across Europe in this job. We learn a lot about how we communicate. What’s more important to our formations. The winning really comes in the readiness built from our NATO Alliance here. When you come to train, you will be better prepared and ultimately be able to deter and adversary when you go back to your home station.”
--VOICEOVER—
Back at headquarters, the scouts are getting ready for a night mission. I’m going to tag along and see what they can do under the cover of darkness.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
SSG SHAWN BAILEY
1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, US Army
“So what we’re going to do tonight is, we call it, it’s part of our Special Purpose Forces mission. We’re going to go out and conduct raids in an attempt to capture valuable assets of the enemy. We’re trying to catch people while they’re sleeping and test who’s actually out there pulling guard. And if they’re not, we’re going to punish their leadership by taking key assets off the battlefield.”
--VOICEOVER—
Having been spotted earlier, I needed all the help I could get in staying out of sight, even in the dark.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
SGT HILL HOLEMAN
1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, US Army
“So the key with applying camo face paint is to break up the form and shape of your face. So we have the cheekbones. We have the high points and low points. Jaw, nose, ears. So what we’re going to do is we’re going to put the dark colours on the parts of our face that are most likely to reflect light. So that’s like the high points of your face.”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“Okay.”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
SGT HILL HOLEMAN
1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, US Army
“Basically, fill in all the spots.”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“Cool. You look mean.”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
SGT HILL HOLEMAN
1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, US Army
“That’s the idea.”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“How do I look?”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
SGT HILL HOLEMAN
1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, US Army
“You look pretty good.”
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“I’ve got my night optic sorted out. Got my face painted. Bags in the truck. We will be out all night seeing how well everybody has set security.”
--UPSOT Rob Kunzig, video producer for NATO —
“So, who’s on the menu for tonight?”
--UPSOT vehicle radio —
“Truck two, radio check. Over.”
--UPSOT member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“So, we have a…I believe it’s a Romanian Burnham (vehicle), just off in this tree line right here. We’re going to pull up and we’re going to capture it.”
--UPSOT Rob Kunzig, video producer for NATO —
“All right. Let’s see what happens.”
--UPSOT member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“Here, you can all dismount real quick.”
--VOICEOVER—
However, when we reached a position manned by Romanian infantry, One-Four were in for a disappointment.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
ROBERT KUNZIG
Video producer for NATO
“So we found some Romanians. These guys were getting ready to take them out, but they noticed that the Romanians were manning their posts. They were paying attention. So they figured…not worth it. Good for the Romanians. You know, it’s raining. It’s been raining. It’s cold all day. But all the same, they’re alert, they’re vigilant. So, good for NATO.”
--VOICEOVER—
After a few hours, we found a new target. A US artillery battery that didn’t seem well-guarded.
In true “bad guy” fashion, they trick the sleeping guard into thinking we were part of his unit.
--UPSOT member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“Is this Rios?”
--UPSOT sleeping guard —
“What’s up?”
--UPSOT member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“Is this Rios?”
--UPSOT sleeping guard —
“Rios?”
--UPSOT member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“Yeah, my bad. Is this Rios? I think I woke up the wrong person. My bad, sergeant.”
--UPSOT sleeping guard —
“No, it’s okay.”
--UPSOT member of 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment —
“Do you know where Rios is at?”
--VOICEOVER—
There is no Specialist Rios. This guard and his artillery have just been captured. These late-night raids are not always appreciated, but rules are rules.
Should these troopers be called upon to defend the Alliance in an actual conflict, they won’t likely make this mistake again.
Being the “bad guy” isn’t easy, but after 24 hours, I understood how crucial they are to improving NATO’s forces.
--SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH —
LT COL JOSHUA WILES
Commander, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, US Army
“The Alliance is strong today. It will be stronger tomorrow. And that is because they do show up to this rotation to build readiness and be prepared. And the more prepared they are, the more deterrence capability that they have and the more assurance that we have across our Allies. And this is where those relationships are built.”
