Soldiers from the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command deployed forward to the Republic of Korea to participate in the annual multi-national scenario based training exercise, known as Key Resolve, March 3-13.

The annual computerized exercise focuses on strengthening the ROK-U.S. partnership, while ensuring the Alliance is well prepared to respond and defend the ROK from any potential threats.

"Working with our allies and partners helps build and strengthen our relationships; this exercise also allows forces to come together to attain the same goal to protect the peninsula against any potential threats," shares Capt. Lee Humphrey, 94th AAMDC future operations planning officer.

During the scenario based exercise the 94th AAMDC Soldiers work closely with the ROK air defenders to defeat a possible tactical ballistic missile threat.

"The ROK made great strides by working with the U.S. and the other multi-national forces to improve our tactics, techniques, and procedures," explains Humphrey. "We rehearsed scenarios that we have never tried before during this exercise."

The training event involved computer simulations which allowed senior leaders to exercise their decision-making capabilities and trained commanders from both nations in combined planning, military intelligence, logistics and command and control operations.

"This is a critical exercise to train alongside our ROK and United Nations Sending State partners. It is important to maintain our high level of proficiency on key tasks while exercising different scenarios," said Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, UNC/CFC/USFK commander.

For Soldiers like Pfc. D'Andre Ward, 94th AAMDC information management specialist, attending an exercise of this nature for the first time was eye-opening.

"Key Resolve gave me a better understanding as a junior Soldier in the 94th AAMDC, on what our unit actually does when it comes to protecting the peninsula against the ballistic missile threat," explains Ward. "It also showed me how well we work with our allies. Working with the ROK was a great experience and was cool how we were able to communicate through the translators."

Five United Nations participated in Key Resolve 15 to include Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, and Great Britain.

"Exercising our multi-national force is an important component of readiness and is fundamental to sustaining and strengthening the Alliance," said Scaparrotti.

"The combined team of 94th AAMDC and 263rd AAMDC Soldiers performed exceptionally well during exercise KR15, we're very proud of them," shares COL Robert W. Lyons, 94th AAMDC deputy commanding officer.

"Their professionalism, dedication and unparalleled subject matter expertise enables us to accomplish all of our training objectives, effectively synchronize air and missile defense (AMD) operations with our ROK Air Defense Missile Command (ADMC) partners and provide outstanding support to the area air defense commander."

Key Resolve is an annual defense-oriented exercise. It is designed to coordinate combined and joint training designed to defend the ROK, protect the region and maintain stability on the peninsula.