Tanks, choppers deployed in Ladakh part of counter terror drills with US

MAHAJAN (RAJASTHAN): Two Apache helicopters hover over a recreated combat area in Thar desert as troops slither from four Mi-17 transport choppers in batches of two during the India and US armies joint drill at Mahajan Field Firing Range on Saturday.

Minutes later a Chinook, a multi-mission helicopter, comes carrying an armoured transport vehicle, drops it at the designated location and leaves. The hovering Apaches also stop. The troops are on the ground and now they are ready for action.

During the drill, mock terror situations like in Afghanistan and Iraq were created at Mahajan Field Firing Range and counter terror operations were carried out by a joint team of Indian and US Armies.

Tanks and air power deployed at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh — after the border dispute with China — are now part of the drill.

Rajasthan's Suratgarh based Brigade represented by 11th Battalion of Sapt Shakti Command of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles carried out counter terrorism drills with the Seattle based soldiers of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, also known as "Ghost Brigade".

The 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team earned its name as Ghost Brigade for carrying out counter terror operations stealthily in Iraq.

Major Spencer Garrison of the Ist Stryker Brigade told IANS, "We gained the reputation as Ghost Brigade in early 2003 during first deployment in Iraq. We gained the reputation for quickly and quietly entering enemy town homes in certain areas and we were able to strike and defeat the enemy before they knew what hit them. From then on our motto became 'Arrive in Silence'." (IANS)

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