On Monday 23 September the first Antonov 124 flight arrived at Sarajevo International Airport bringing in troops and equipment for EUFOR’s largest annual exercise, Quick Response 19 (QR19).
This exercise 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. Quick Response 19 will take place in locations all over BiH between the 7-11 October in cooperation with BiH authorities.
EUFOR’s spokesperson, Lt Cdr Tim Leckey, said; “This long-standing annual exercise demonstrates to all the people of BiH the commitment that EUFOR has to helping maintain a peaceful environment. It is also an excellent opportunity for EUFOR to strengthen the close relationship we share with the Armed Forces BiH and Law Enforcement Agencies as we work together to deal with a broad range of exercise scenarios.”
EUFOR’s Multinational Battalion (MNBN) has been working closely with the Armed Forces BiH (AFBiH) and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), completing combined training and sharing skills and experiences which will be demonstrated during the exercise. Personnel from EUFOR’s MNBN, AFBiH and LEAs will be joined by part of EUFOR’s reserve contingent, who are arriving from, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom.
Exercise Quick Response 19 will allow EUFOR Headquarters to exercise command and control in a large scale exercise and giving the troops the opportunity to expand their knowledge and experience of peace support operations.
