Romanian and US Marines had a joint training session in the Danube Delta

US strategic partner's upbeat assessment of Romanian Marines

Eugen Nasta, 02.10.2024, 14:00

It is a misty, late September morning in Mahmudia, a locality on the Sfântu Gheorghe arm, one of the Danube Delta’s three arms in Romania. Each year, here, a stage is being carried, of the Marines 307th Regiment’s Heracleea annual exercise. The Marines get ready to board the assault boats, in a bid to carry an amphibious raid on the Caraorman islet.

In 2024, the exercise has covered almost all of the Danube Delta surface, that including the Razelm-Sinoe lagoon area or the Babadag training range. It has been a dynamic week, an eventful one, with all the set targets being met at the end of the week. The novelty in 2024 is the presence of two teams of observers and planners, one from Italy, as an absolute first, from the San Marco Marine Brigade, and one of the US Marine Corps.

The deputy of the Haricleea 307 Marines Regiment commander, colonel Claudiu Visan, stated the US team was made of 15 military, retired as well as active, they were assessors here, on the ground, yet they participated in the process of planning of the exercise. The partnership was initiated many years ago, we can quite aptly speak about a true mentoring undertaking because, according to Colonel Visan, the US Marines are arguably the best prepared, professionally, with much experience in various theatres of operation.

Before boarding the assault boats, lieutenant-colonel Daniel Dieckhaus of the Alpha Advisors company in Washington, DC, specified the reason of their presence in the Danube Delta.
“Our mission here is to work together with our Romanian partners, to learn from one another and operate together, to get to know our capabilities, in a bid to become an even more deadly force. We have, in Romania, marines who are very motivated, on both sides. The US ones are very happy to be here and I believe so do the Romanian marines, they learn from one another. The assault boats training is a good thing, our boys get acquainted with how to operate them in this specific environment. The Romanian marines know this area very well, I don’t think there is anyone else capable of knowing the Delta better than they do, they know how to run the assault boats and I am happy we can work together.”

Lieutenant-colonel Daniel Dieckhaus is a native of the state of Pennsylvania, a place in the USA where the geography is different from that of the Danube Delta. He has been to Romania before and is very happy every time he returns to this country. About assessment and advising, he says they are not carried in the classic sense of the concepts:

“ We are assessors and advisors, but for both sides we work together, this is not an assessment of the Romanian Marines as against the US Marines, we also learn from our partners, we offer pieces of advice, if the case, if there is more than one way of doing things correctly, in terms of specific tactics and techniques, we share that kind of knowledge. By all means, it is a two-way process where everybody stands to gain. “

Only a couple of dozens of kilometres further north, on the Chilia Arm, the Russian drones continue to violate Romania’s air space. Sometimes, the drones crash on the national territory. We asked lieutenant-colonel Daniel Dieckhaus whether this situation had any impact at all, on the mission he has in Romania.

“I believe everybody is aware there is an ongoing war at the borders, it is the backdrop against which we take action, considering the emergency and the importance of our mission. We want to make sure that we and the Marines here are prepared. I am sure al those who will be on the water today have that in mind. Anyone can learn something from the war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and here I also include the US Marine Corps. One of the reasons why we are doing the exercise today is to practice new tactical manoeuvres and techniques when we’re on water. By all means, the amphibious raid is useful is this lagoon environment of the Danube Delta.”