Chief of the General Staff visits Croatian participants in Anakonda EXE
On the occasion of Distinguished Visitors Day of the international military exercise “Anakonda 16“ which was staged in the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Range in the Republic of Poland on 16 June 2016, was attended by the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, General Mirko Šundov, accompanied by the Commander of the Croatian Army, Lieutenant General Mate Ostović, the Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Guards Motorised Brigade of the Croatian Army, Colonel Tihomir Kundid and the Commander of the Mechanised Battalion “Gromovi” of the Guards Motorised Brigade, Major Roman Kelnerić. The delegation also met with the Croatian participants of the Exercise.
Other senior visitors were the Defence Minister of Poland, Antoni Macierewicz, the U.S. Army Europe Commander, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges and the Chief of the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Marek Tomaszycki.
Two demonstration exercises were conducted at Drawsko Pomorskie training range on the occasion– an exercise of the armoured and mechanised forces supported by artillery and fighter aircraft (engaging the members of the armed forces of Albania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poliand, Sweden and the United States) and an exercise of the special forces (composed by the members of the armed forces of Croatia, Hungary, Poland and the United States). A static display of armaments and military equipment of the Polish defence industry and of other Exercise participants (Croatia represented by the Military Police Regiment).
The Croatian Armed Forces were represented by 258 members ( a mechanised infantry company, a mobile medical team of the mechanised battalion and 50 motor vehicles and as a mechanized infantry company of the Mechanised Battalion “Gromovi“, staff personnel of the Battalion Command, a Decontamining Platoon of the NBC Defence Battalion of the Croatian Army, a Special Forces Command team, a Military Police platoon of the Multinational Military Police forces, the cargo handling platoon, the Support Command’s medical and support staff, staff personnel in the Coalition Support Group , staff personnel to the Exercise Command and a public affairs and protocol team.
Meeting with the Croatian participants, the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, General Mirko Šundov expressed pride over their exemplary conduct and commitment towards the successful outcome of the Exercise. “the experience gained in this Exercise will be valuable for home use at all levels, and particularly in the units engaged in the exercise itself – the Mechanised Battalion „“Gromovi“, the NBC Defence Battalion , in the Support Command, the Special Forces Command and the Military Police Regiment“, said General Šundov.
”ANAKONDA” is a traditional military exercise of the Polish Armed Forces, organised biannually; ANAKONDA 16 has been the exercise of USAREUR and the largest joint exercise held over the recent years.
The Exercise was conducted 7 through 17 June 2016, gathering more than 31,000 members of the armed forces (army, air force, navy and special forces), some 3000 military vehicles, more than 100 military aircraft and 12 ships from 23 NATO member nations and partner countries. The venues of the Exercise were the training ranges at Orzysz, Zagan, Wędrzyn, Drawsko Pomorskie, Torun, Nowa Deba, Chelmno, Ustka and Swidwin.
“ANAKONDA” is organised as a response to modern security challenges, demonstrating the unity and solidarity and testing the interoperability and the readiness of the collective defence, as well as the rapid response to potential threats to NATO and the Partnership for Peace. The exercise scenario was defensive and tested the ability to manage joint operations engaging large troops from numerous NATO and Partnership nations.