Ukraine is helping NATO trainers recreate its battlefield, calling out what they get wrong to make it more realistic
Norway is leading multinational training for Ukrainian troops in NATO ally Poland, and trying to make the effort resemble the real fight as much as possible.
NATO Western allies are trying to make training for Ukrainian troops resemble the battlefield as closely as possible.
Trenches, weapons, drones, vehicles, and even explosions are designed to mirror what soldiers face in Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops shape the training, once telling allies before a rotation that "this is not good enough." Western trainers are trying to recreate Ukraine's battlefields on NATO soil to make training for its soldiers as realistic as possible.
Ukrainian troops are key to helping them get it right.
Western militaries are training Ukrainian soldiers at a purpose-built facility in Poland as part of Norway-led Operation Legio.
Its shooting ranges, trench networks, tank fields, and urban and rural fighting positions were designed to mirror the battlefield , with and against the kind of warfighting equipment they face in combat.
Maj.
John, the S3 Operations Officer in charge of synchronizing the overall training operation, told Business Insider at the camp that the goal is to recreate the terrain in Ukraine, the kinds of tactics and equipment that Russia uses , and the way both sides fight.
Ukraine's needs and battlefield experience shaped the training from the start, with Ukrainian officials emphasizing realism in early meetings, John said.
He asked to only be identified by his first name for security reasons.
One of the last things that happened before the first training rotation began last year was a meeting "to see how we can conduct this training as realistically as possible," he said.
The Ukrainian verdict on the training was that "this is not good enough." "We had to revise and change the training program and then fit it to their current operational needs," John said.
The camp's location helps keep the feedback loop short.
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