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Video by Spc. MATHEW POUS, Staff Sgt. Jacob Sawyer

Testing the Force

173rd Airborne Brigade

Aug. 21, 2020 | 1:24

Every Sky Soldier in Germany participating in Saber Junction 20 received a COVID-19 test to ensure the health and safety of the force.

Towards the end of the exercise, all paratroopers were tested in field conditions. The results came back that all 2,498 Paratroopers were COVID free. Our 100% negative test rate proves that the mitigation measures throughout the exercise worked in the Hohenfels Training Area.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade is the U.S. Army's Contingency Response Force in Europe, providing rapidly deployable forces to the United States Europe, Africa and Central Command areas of responsibility. Forward deployed across Italy and Germany, the brigade routinely trains alongside NATO allies and partners to build partnerships and strengthen the alliance.

Saber Junction 20 is a 7th Army Training Command-conducted, U.S. Army Europe-directed annual exercise designed to assess the readiness of the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade to execute unified land operations in a joint, combined environment, and to promote interoperability with participating ally and partner nations. For more information, go to https://www.dvidshub.net/feature/SaberJunction

(U.S. Army video by Staff Sgt. Jacob Sawyer, U.S. Army Footage provided by Staff Sgt. Jacob Sawyer and Spc. Mathew Pous)