Big Help From Above

More than 140 troops with the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team took charge of Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine in Grafenwoehr, Germany, during a transfer of authority ceremony Aug. 8.

The New York Army National Guard soldiers, collectively known as Task Force Orion, will train Ukrainian military personnel on systems and equipment issued under the United States Presidential Drawdown Authority.

“We know the urgency of this mission and gravity of what the Ukrainian people have at stake,” said Col. William Murphy, Task Force Orion commander.

This marks the second time the 27th IBCT has conducted the JMTG-U mission, making it the only unit to do so.

“It is absolutely great to have [Task Force Orion] back here,” said Brig. Gen. Joseph Hilbert, the commander of 7th Army Training Command. “We remember what you did on your previous rotation [2017-2018]. You left an impact on all of us here in 7th ATC. You left an impact on the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Task Force Orion assumed the mission from Task Force Gator, which was comprised of 160 members of the Florida Army Guard’s 53rd IBCT, which deployed to Combat Training Center-Yavoriv in western Ukraine in November 2021.

U.S. officials redeployed Task Force Gator to Germany in February, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In April, the task force reestablished operations at the Grafenwoehr Training Area. The Florida Guard troops have since trained more than 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers on 15 different instruction programs.