Today, 14th October, in training center “Pepelishte” an opening ceremony for was held for the beginning of the exercise “Macedonian flash-9”. The participants of the exercise were welcomed by Joint Operation Command deputy commander Brigadier General Muhamed Racaj. He highlighted that the realization of this exercise for the Army of the Republic of Macedonia is priority number one. A successfully conducted exercise will result in self-evaluation of the medium Infantry Battalion Group level 1 and the light field hospital NATO evaluation level 2. General Racaj also stated that the compliments that our army gets from NATO for a successful participation in the peacekeeping missions as well as for the evaluation of the declared units which guarantees that this complex exercises will be carried out with excellent results.
The exercise was preceded by a few months’ individual as well as collective preparations which objective was realization of the training regarding different circumstances according to NATO list of tasks when carrying out peacekeeping missions. This exercise will be one of the most complex and the biggest exercises so far regarding the number of participants (around 1700 ARM servicemen), but relying on experiences and lessons learned from the previous exercises as well as participation in peacekeeping missions the perfect outcome is expected.
Exercise “Macedonian Flash-9” is a live exercise with units on terrain based on NATO/EU led peace support operations scenario under UN command. Carrying out this scenario will confirm and demonstrate the interoperability with the armies of NATO countries. According to the scenario the exercise will be carried out in four phases and will finish on 18th October with a briefing about the evaluation.
