Immediate Response 2012 Exercise Presentation

The presentation was attended by Defence Minister Ante Kotromanović, Commander of the U.S. Army Europe Command (USAREUR) Lieutenant General Mark P. Hertling, CHODs of the Croatian Armed Forces (Lieutenant General Drago Lovrić), Albania (Major General Xhemal Gjunkshi), Montenegro (Vice Admiral Dragan Samardžić) and Macedonia (Major General Gorančo Koteski). The presentation was also attended by the Assistant Minister of Defence Dragan Lozančić, Commander of the Army Major General Dragutin Repinc, Commander of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence Brigadier General Dražen Šćuri, representatives of the armed forces of countries that participated in the exercises, various organizational units of the Defence Ministry and of the Croatian Armed Forces, representatives of the Military-diplomatic Corps and other guests.

The presentation began with an initial briefing presented by the exercise directors Croatian Colonel Ivan Turkalj and his American colleague Andrew R. Heppelmann. It was emphasized that the exercise involves more than 700 participants from the armed forces of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and the United States, and Macedonia and Serbia as observer countries. The exercise, organized by the CAF and USAREUR runs from 22 May to 11 June, with the aim of promoting regional stability and security, improving the capabilities of partners and strengthening the trust by increasing interoperability with NATO partners.

The introduction was  followed by a field display, which was part of the scenario related to the implementation of the fictional international COIN (counterinsurgency) operations. The demonstration included members of the armed forces of all participating countries, with the use of combat armoured vehicles of the Croatian Armed Forces, the United States and Slovenia, and with the support of the U.S. F-16 fighter aircraft.

In a statement to the media after the presentation, Minister Kotromanović praised all the participants and noted that the Immediate Response 2012 was well prepared and implemented. He announced similar exercises organized by the Croatian Armed Forces, noting that their focus would be on joint training with allied and partner countries. It is a great thing when the experience of the armed forces of different countries is exchanged, the Minister concluded.

Lieutenant General Hertling said that the aggregation of manpower and technology of various armed forces in one operation was very demanding. When he was comparing it with the last year’s exercise, he said that this year’s Immediate Response was far more complex in all segments. He was particularly impressed with the level of interoperability and communication of exercise participants.

Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Lovrić considered that the exercise showed a high degree of CAF preparedness, but also of allies and partners. Immediate response is vital because of the procedures that apply in international operations, but also because of those that would apply in the defence of national territory, Lovrić said.