 Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division made history by being the first US tank crew to fire the M1A2 Abrams tank in Poland. Tank gunner, specialist Corey Troxel of Charlie Company is the man who fired the first round in Poland and was excited about the opportunity. First off it was just normal gunnery stuff, L-fastening getting the tank to zero and then by the time we ended it we shot that first round. We were like wow that was actually the first round in Poland, that's pretty cool so we were actually really excited about being the first ones to do that. The 1st Brigade is in the Baltic States as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve and as units in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland. Operation Atlantic Resolve is intended to strengthen US relationships with our NATO allies. Specialist Troxel's tank commander Staff Sergeant John Durst knows the importance of training with our allies to build a stronger relationship. Everybody's got to start somewhere and I think that's the most important thing, it's just building a relationship. You can't just jump right into anything tactical or working together, you have to establish that connection communication relationship before anything else. I think that is the most important part. Specialist Troxel also knows the importance of the United States being in Poland and the Baltic States. So it's out there, it shows our face further down here in Poland as far as we've ever been and with this these loud guns going off. That's a voice saying hey we're here to support our Polish allies and anyone else in the Baltic States. That is our mission here. From the Michigan National Guard I'm Specialist John Brandenburg.