Hohenfels, Germany, Aug 14 (CTK correspondent) – The Allied Spirit exercise, currently underway in Hohenfels, Bavaria, is a great contribution to the Czech Republic, Colonel Josef Kopecky, commander of the 7th mechanised brigade who is the first Czech officer to command allied units, told CTK Friday.
“The benefit rests in that we train with Czechs on Czech territory, while here, we train within NATO. This means that we can get to learn our partners, individual doctrines are being brought into harmony. We have different weapons and other things, all this must be tested for us to be able to fight together,” Kopecky said.
“The scenario of the exercise is a war conflict with a hybrid subtext,” Kopecky said about the Allied Spirit, which is one of the the biggest NATO exercises held this year.
The exercise takes place in a fictitious European state and allied troops intervene against an enemy who tries to occupy the fictitious country with its regular military. The enemy also makes use of a part of the population that supports the enemy country in the attacked country.
Eight countries take part in the exercise, with Britain, the Czech Republic and the United States having deployed the strongest contingents.
The Czechs sent 1400 soldiers to the training.
Kopecky said he is aware of the big responsibility he has in his capacity as commander of multinational forces.
General Christopher Cavoli, from the United States who prepared the exercise and who supervises its course, said the scenario is very complicated and that NATO units will be much better prepared to act jointly and face current challenges at the end of the exercise.
He praised the performance of the Czech units.
Czech Chief-of-Staff Josef Becvar echoed his opinion. “I consider the participating soldiers to be very well prepared for fulfilling tasks in the Alliance environment.
However, he said Czech soldiers have older equipment, which is not fully compatible with the Alliance partners’, at their disposal.
He said the Czech military must modernise its equipment, which requires a long-term stability of the budget.
“To be able to start the big acquisitions needed, we must know precisely how much money the Defence Ministry will have until 2019 minimally,” Becvar said.
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