All reserve forces that participate in the drill “Quick Response 2016” successfully arrived to Bosnia and Herzegovina and were welcomed at the headquarters in Butmir, Sarajevo.
Many convoys have passed through Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past few days, demonstrating the capabilities of EUFOR to move troops across the country rapidly. The United Kingdom used the freight aircraft Antonov 124 for strategic transportation to the Sarajevo Airport. EUFOR has shown that they can gather robust forces in a short period of time, in case of need.
Meanwhile, all units – Multinational battalion of EUFOR, troop of the Armed Forces of BiH, Tactical maneuvering battalion of KFOR consisting of Portuguese and Hungarian soldiers, a troop of reserve forces from the United Kingdom – have dispersed across a large regional training area on Manjača near Banja Luka. More than 750 soldiers and 70 vehicles are currently in the tent settlement in the barracks “Mika Bosnić”.
The protruded operational base built by the Austrian engineering troops is now entirely ready to coordinate tasks obtained from the EUFOR exercise control team. All soldiers and the operational center of the Multinational battalion will be situated in that base.
During the first stage of the drill, different units have performed internal training on the level of platoon, company and battalion. During the stage two, all troops have gathered in the multinational brigade, which currently executes training and performs tasks given by the drill control team. With brigade-sized forces, EUFOR is capable of acting in larger and advanced scenarios set before it. All elements of forces have conducted scouting and observation of wider area.
The main task of the newly formed brigade is to practice different scenarios during the drill “Quick Response 2016”. Training was simple in the beginning, and then it was intensified to include much more complex tasks. One of those tasks was to ensure safety of the meetings of high officials during negotiations, as well as evacuation of civil population in case of any bigger threat for security. In accordance with the given guidelines, soldiers will practice the use of minimum force with the aim of maintaining safe and stable environment.
One of the key aspects of the drill is to enable EUFOR and all member countries to perform larger peace support operations on the brigade level in the country and abroad, in case of need.
(Source: klix.ba)
