U.S. Army to hold German training exercise

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GRAFENWOHR, Germany, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army plans to hold its first off-post military exercise in Germany in more than two decades, officials say.

More than 6,000 soldiers from the U.S. Army and the forces of NATO allies are expected to participate in Saber Junction, Stars and Stripes reported.

While force-on-force exercises, often using fallow farmland, were held every few years during the Cold War, they became unusual in the past decade. But trainers say they are bringing back skills like the combined arms maneuver that are typically not used in counterinsurgency.

"The combined arms maneuver is more or less known as how we used to do business in the Army before the operations of the last 10 years," said Maj. Wes Wilhite, planning chief at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels.

Saber Junction gets underway Saturday. It will pit a U.S. regiment equipped with Stryker armored fighting vehicles against a force with mock planes and German Leopard tanks.

The military has agreed to obey noise regulations after dark and to reimburse farmers for any damage done to their land.