EU rapid reaction force. On-call Eurocorps from July 1
(BRUSSELS2) The Eurocorps will officially serve as the headquarters (FHQ) of the EU's rapid reaction force (battlegroup) in the second half of the year (1). The certification ceremony took place this Thursday, June 2, after six months of preparation. This is a first for this multilateral body which is seeking to get closer and closer to the EU. Read: Eurocorps seeks to cooperate better with the EU. A letter of intent
On call for 6 months
The Eurocorps will, in fact, take the "EUBG" alert (EU Battlegroup in European jargon) from July 1, for a period of 6 months. According to our information, he could even extend the experience and remain the FHQ for the battlegroup of the first half of 1. In the event of deployment, a possible mission would be to provide support for securing a limited area, as was (initially) thought of for the Central African Republic (Read: Battlegroup for the Central African Republic? How Cathy said stop!)
General Pfrengle in command
He is a German general, General Franz Xavier Pfrengle who is the head of this multinational unit. During the preparation, a deployment in Africa served as the scenario. A possibility for which Pfrengle is particularly well prepared. He has just returned from Bamako where he commanded the training mission of the Malian army (EUTM Mali). The EU cannot be a factory of Malian GTIAs (General Pfrengle)
Ready to deploy
After exercises testing procedures and cooperation between the different nations within the headquarters in Strasbourg, the actual reaction to a variety of incidents was the final step towards certification. In Bergen (Germany), for two weeks, the "European Spirit 16" exercise brought together 2600 attendees. The soldiers trained in all sorts of situations: securing an area, especially when a convoy is stopped; medical evacuations (Medevac) by air and land; detection and treatment of contaminated areas; and intervention to separate parties, in the event of a confrontation.
(Leonor Hubaut)
(1) The force is led by Germany as framework nation and includes Austria, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Croatia, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The designated Operations Headquarters is that of Potsdam (Germany)
Read also: These very expensive battlegroups, really unusable?
