On Thursday 26 September another Antonov 124 and a Royal Air Force Voyager aircraft arrived at Sarajevo International Airport bringing in over 120 British troops from the 1stBattalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles and their final pieces of equipment for EUFOR’s largest annual exercise, Quick Response 2019 (QR19).
The troops were met at the airport by EUFOR’s Multinational Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Manfred Leitner and EUFOR’s Senior British Representative, Wing Commander Tim Lowing.
Wing Commander Lowing said, “The deployment of these troops demonstrates the UK’s ongoing commitment to the security and stability of BiH and the wider Western Balkans.” He added: “The Royal Gurkha Rifles are a specially trained and equipped, rapidly deployable airborne unit able to quickly bolster EUFOR’s in country troop numbers as required.”
The British troops will join other elements of EUFOR’s reserve contingent, who are arriving from Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. These troops which are arriving here for Quick Response 19 make up just a small part of the total reserves EUFOR can call upon. They will join the personnel from EUFOR’s Multinational Battalion, the permanent in country presence.
Exercise Quick Response is the annual test of EUFOR’s capability to rapidly reinforce its troops in BiH with part of its reserve forces which are held at high-readiness in partner nations. The exercise runs in cooperation with BiH authorities, Armed Forces BiH and Law Enforcement Agencies and will take place in locations all over BiH between the 7-11 October.
