Fort Sill, Oklahoma () — Ukrainian soldiers waved and honked their horns as they drove down a dirt road in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, positioning their vehicles to defend against a possible Russian missile barrage.
However, these were not ordinary trucks. The Ukrainians were running a US Patriot air defense system, in which 65 Ukrainian soldiers have been training intensively for 10 weeks, instructed by US Army trainers at that base.
A Patriot mobile missile launcher is pictured outside the Fort Sill military post near Lawton, Okla., on March 21, 2023. (Credit: Sean Murphy/AP)
was invited to watch the training on Tuesday, just days before the Ukrainians are expected to graduate from the crash course. The training at Fort Sill is the only place on US soil where the US is instructing Ukrainians on US weapons systems. But videos and photos of the training have been banned to protect the identity of Ukrainians who will return home to defend their country against Russian forces inside.
The Ukrainians have stood out, the officials said. They learned the basics of the Patriot system so quickly that they received additional intensive training rarely provided to their American counterparts completing the same course, the officials added.
“Our assessment is that the Ukrainian soldiers are impressive, and they are absolutely fast learners because of their extensive air defense knowledge and experience in a combat zone,” said Brig. Gen. Shane Morgan, acting commanding general of the Fort Sill Center of Excellence and Fires.
A vehicle drives past a sign at Scott Gate, one of the entrances to Fort Sill, in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. (Credit: Sue Ogrocki/AP)
“It was easier, although it’s never easy, for them to get the rhythm and the maintenance,” he said. “They are the best of the best at what they do in air defense for Ukraine.”
The system will now be deployed in Ukraine in the coming weeks, well ahead of schedule, giving the country additional protection against Russian missiles that has been requested since the start of the war just over a year ago.
On Tuesday, US officials also said the Abrams tanks would be deployed faster than expected, although Ukrainian officials say much more sophisticated weaponry is needed, and much more, to push back Russia’s offensive significantly.
Washington and its allies know that the two Patriot systems going to Ukraine — one provided by the United States, the other jointly by Germany and the Netherlands — will not be enough to defend entire Ukrainian cities from complex Russian missile attacks.
“A Patriot (system) will not be able to defend the entire city” of Kiyv, for example, a senior defense official said.
But it will be better than the air defense systems currently used by the Ukrainians, which cannot defend against Russian ballistic missile attacks.
Intensive training on the Patriot missile system
Ukrainian men and women, ranging in age from 19 to 67, have trained from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., six days a week, for 10 weeks, authorities said. Many were qualified engineers before the war and several have multiple degrees, and all were selected by Ukrainian military leaders to train in the US.
“I think just from their combat experience at home, they were able to understand things very easily, the best I’ve seen so far, and I’ve trained (personnel from) various countries,” an American trainer told . “These guys do it very well.”
Underlining the experience the Ukrainians had in air defense when they arrived at Fort Sill, a senior US defense official said the Ukrainians’ battalion commander had already intercepted multiple Russian missiles during the course of the war. The US battalion commander, by contrast, has never conducted a real-world missile intercept, the official said.
Ukrainians also adjusted well to life in Fort Sill, which incorporated many soups, a Ukrainian staple, into meal plans along with American cuisine: burgers, barbecue, and grilled steaks. An American trainer told that many of them had never had burgers before. They were crowd favorites.
But the intense real-world combat that awaited them in the Ukraine was a constant priority. A Ukrainian soldier was in the middle of a training session when she received a phone call informing her that her husband had been killed in combat. Several of the 18 US military interpreters called in to help translate were Ukrainian-born and deeply impacted by the soldiers’ experiences, authorities said.
“It has been a true honor to meet these warriors,” said a senior Fort Sill official. “Their stories had been horrible and amazing at the same time. And I think we’ve learned as much from them as we’ve taught them.”
The US trainers worked to incorporate into the training the realistic threats and conditions Ukrainian troops will face when they return home, that official said. But often the Ukrainians basically take over the training themselves, tailoring it to the more realistic types of threats they may face at home.
“We don’t normally do that,” the coach said. “But based on what these Ukrainian soldiers are going to do, it was very important that we were able to have that dialogue and incorporate some of those realistic threats.”
“Once in Ukraine, soldiers will integrate these new systems into their layered air defenses, for one reason and one reason only: to help protect Ukraine from Russia’s rampant attacks on civilian infrastructure in densely populated urban areas,” he said. Martin O’Donnell, spokesman for the US Army.
“Fort Sill and the Fire Center of Excellence are allowing such protection. I am sure that his actions in the last few months will save lives.”
