There’s been a big push the past few years by the U.S. European Command for countries to work together.

Coalitions have been used to quell unrest in the Balkans, fight extremist enemies in Afghanistan and address problems in Africa. But troops from different countries can’t work well together if their equipment doesn’t.

At Combined Endeavor 2005, a two-week exercise going on in Germany and Romania, troops are working out the bugs. About 1,200 troops from 43 countries have brought their stuff — radios, satellites, computers — to Lager Aulenbach, Germany, and Constanta, Romania.

In a way, the exercise is like a field day for ham radio operators, giving soldiers a chance to check out 43 countries’ tactical communication devices and see whether they work together. The finished product is a master guide teaching troops how to set up and adjust communications gear so it operates with other countries’ equipment.

“This is terrific manpower saver,” said Marine Lt. Col. Thomas Gillespie, of EUCOM’s command and control directorate. “It saves a lot of liaison personnel we might need.”

Soldiers from different countries on combined patrol can’t communicate, “unless you take the radio pack off your back and give it to the other guy and leave a soldier with it as an escort,” said Lt. Col. Joe Angyal, the exercise director. “Or, you could have equipment that works together … and connect people.”

In the future, the countries could respond together to disasters, humanitarian missions and war. It would help if all their routers, switches, satellites and software work in unison.

This is the 11th year for Combined Endeavor. Next year’s event could include a “scenario” for troops to try out their newly synced equipment, Gillespie said.

Troops from different countries have been free to work on their own.

On Wednesday in Lager Aulenbach, Capt. Alexander Höhfeld, a German officer, shared data and images with South African Staff Sgt. Lisezl Boukan in real time as Boukan moved an imaginary company of soldiers, thus linking the two countries’ command and control systems.

The job isn’t all work, according to Staff Sgt. Walter Pahucki of Company C, 101st Signal Battalion, New York Army National Guard, one of 15 of the unit’s soldiers in Constanta.

The troops in Constanta have sampled traditional Romanian barbecue, gone to the country’s naval museum and attended a mock Romanian wedding.

The troops in Lager Aulenbach visited Mainz and other sites.

Pahucki said the exercise should save time down the road, in real-life situations.

“It should have a huge impact,” Pahucki said. “Say there’s another situation like Iraq, or we deploy somewhere with the Romanian army, [we will] already know that the Army switch can work with this French satellite, or the Army satellite can work with a Romanian switch.

“It will cut planning time and make us more effective.”