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The big maneuvers have started in Bosnia. Exercise “Quick Response 2”

Opening ceremony of the Quick Response 2 exercise (credit: Eufor Atlhea)
Opening ceremony of the Quick Response 2 exercise (credit: Eufor Atlhea)

(BRUSSELS2) Around 200 soldiers from Eufor and 250 from the intermediate reserve force began a two-week "Quick Response 3" exercise on Tuesday (September 2). General Dieter Deidecker, head of EUFOR, set the tone at the official launch of the exercise in Camp Butmir. " The basis of this exercise for EUFOR is to ensure peace and the maintenance of a secure and secure environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. If necessary, EUFOR can indeed deploy its forces "Over the Horizon" to support this security. And it is necessary practice and test key skills ". This operational practice is the latest in a series of military exercises conducted by EUFOR and put into practice the deployment and integration of two light infantry companies: one Austrian and the other Slovak.

1st phase: training

During the first phase of the exercise, a week-long situational training program will be carried out by EUFOR troops at Camp Butmir, Sarajevo and nearby Rajlovac Barracks including convoy operations, patrol missions to prepare the ground for the training exercise (FTX) the following week (FTX). This training will also include infantry tactics and responding to situations that may threaten the security environment in the country.

2nd phase: field exercise

The second phase of the exercise will involve around 800 personnel, including Bosnian army personnel in the conduct of a joint FTX. The purpose of this phase is to ensure that the training provided to the army of Bosnia and Herzegovina provides the opportunity to work with international military units with the aim of progressing towards Euro-Atlantic integration. This week-long joint training field exercise will culminate in a demonstration of combined military capability through a VIP day, with VIPs and media, in the Bosnian Army barracks in Livac on September 12, 2013.

Interoperability and readiness for NATO

The objective of the exercise is also – as Althea specifies – “to assess the interoperability between the armed forces of the EU partner states, in order to improve the readiness of EUFOR to deploy its intermediate reserve forces" but also to test and assess the readiness of the Bosnian military forces with a view to NATO membership. For General Heidecker " EUFOR is committed to assisting Bosnia and Herzegovina and its armed forces on the path to successful Euro-Atlantic integration, as well as having the capability and skills to deploy and contribute positively during international peacekeeping missions peace abroad. »

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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