As Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would begin its invasion on Ukraine in February, Ukranian armed forces were on the Mississippi Coast for training and have since returned home to defend their country.
The troops from Ukraine completed training at the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County. The group enrolled in the U.S. Special Operations Command’s previously scheduled training program long before Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24.
The training included patrol craft operations, communications and maintenance, said John F. Kirby, Pentagon press secretary. While in Mississippi, the small group of international security force personnel took part in tactical training in small crafts along the Pearl River and worked with unmanned aircraft.
The group graduated alongside military professionals from the Bahamas, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Jamaica, Latvia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Poland, the Republic of Korea and Romania on March 3.
With Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainian personnel were sent to Virginia where they received additional advanced tactical training on the systems the United States provided to Ukraine, including the Switchblade UAV. The Switchblade drones are piloted missiles that can also act as scouts and have been called “kamikaze suicide drones” because once the missiles are used, they cannot be reloaded.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met with the group via videoconference Sunday morning. Austin thanked the troops for their service and for their courage, noting the skill with which the Ukrainian armed forces are fighting to defend their nation from Russia’s unprovoked invasion, Kirby said.
Austin pledged to them continued U.S. support for Ukraine, providing and coordinating additional security assistance.
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – A formation of riverine crafts sets out for training from Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School facilities located along the Pearl River in South Mississippi in support of Semester 22-2 training iterations. Semester 22-2’s recent formal graduation ceremony featured partner nation students from the Bahamas, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Jamaica, Latvia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, and Ukraine. NAVSCIATTS is a security cooperation schoolhouse operating under U.S. Special Operations Command in support of foreign security assistance and geographic combatant commanders’ theater security cooperation priorities. (U.S. Navy photo by Michael Williams) Michael Williams
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks remotely with Ukrainian Forces training in the United States April 10, 2022. Secretary Austin thanked the troops for their service and courage as they prepared to return home to the Ukraine to help defend their country. The soldiers were training on patrol craft operations, communications, and maintenance when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24. They since received additional advanced tactical training on systems the United States has provided to Ukraine, including the Switchblade UAV. MC2 Trey Hutcheson
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks with Ukrainian forces via video teleconference participating in a pre-scheduled professional military education program, April 10, 2022. These Ukrainian forces were in the U.S. when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24. These troops are now returning to Ukraine to help defend their country. Secretary Austin thanked these troops for their service and for their courage, noting the skill with which the Ukrainian Armed Forces are fighting Russia’s unprovoked invasion. (DoD Photo by Chad J. McNeeley) Chad J. McNeeley Chad J. McNeeley
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Isiah Enriquez, a native of Lubbock, Texas, and a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment (1/2), 2d Marine Division (2d MARDIV), launches a Switchblade Drone during a training exercise at Camp Lejeune, N.C., July 7, 2021. 1/2 is tasked as 2d MARDIV’s experimental infantry battalion to test new gear, operating concepts and force structures. The unit’s findings will help refine infantry battalions across the Marine Corps in accordance with Force Design 2030. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pfc. Sarah Pysher) Pfc. Sarah Pysher 2nd Marine Division
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – International security force professionals from Ukraine plot coordinates for a Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School Patrol Craft Officer Coastal course training exercise at command headquarters located on the Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi. NAVSCIATTS Semester 22-2’s recent formal graduation ceremony featured partner nation students from the Bahamas, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Jamaica, Latvia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, and Ukraine. NAVSCIATTS is a security cooperation schoolhouse operating under U.S. Special Operations Command in support of foreign security assistance and geographic combatant commanders’ theater security cooperation priorities. (U.S. Navy photo by Michael Williams) Michael Williams
This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 3:53 PM.
Mona Moore was a Service Journalism Desk Editor for the Sun Herald in Mississippi; Mahoning Matters in Ohio; and the Ledger-Enquirer and Telegraph in Georgia. Originally from West Covina, California, she holds a bachelor’s and master’s in corporate and public communication from the University of South Alabama. Mona’s writing and photography have been recognized by press associations in Mississippi, North Carolina and Florida.
