The multinational combat unit of the EU Battlegroup has participated in the demanding certification exercise EUROPEAN FALCON 24.

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Press Release, Berlin, 14 November 2024: [auto-translated] With the demanding certification exercise EUROPEAN FALCON 24, the multinational combat unit of the European Battlegroup has now demonstrated its high level of operational readiness and combat power. In the combat training centre on the Letzlinger Heide, the multinational force showed that it is capable of asserting itself, even against an equally strong enemy.

It is five in the morning. Lithuanian and German reconnaissance troops are on their way to clear the way for their own forces. They belong to the EU-Battlegroup (EUBG), the European Union’s combat-ready crisis response force. At an intersection, the soldiers take up position behind an earthen wall. They discover a barbed wire barrier. What they cannot yet see: Behind the wire lurk not only mines designed to target combat vehicles, but also a booby trap containing 45 kilogrammes of high explosives. If it is not discovered, the passage of their own vehicles will end in disaster.

The 4th Company, consisting of Dutch paratroopers, has now been tasked with opening this barrier in order to create the conditions for the further attack. To do this, the paratroopers have German and Dutch engineers with them who are specialised in detecting and neutralising such charges, but also in planting them themselves.

Creating stability and security: Suddenly, shots are fired. The enemy is monitoring the barrier and is firing at the approaching troops to prevent them from opening the barrier and driving through. But amid deafening volleys from heavy machine guns, our own forces still manage to find and defuse the booby trap. The situation is resolved.

Now the combat unit, whose core is made up of infantrymen from the 231st Mountain Infantry Battalion (Gebirgsjägerbataillon 231) from Bad Reichenhall, can advance further to clear an airport in the north of the training town of Schnöggersburg and house by house in the town itself of the enemy. They will then create security and stability on site until the follow-up forces arrive.

An association of eleven nations: The Mountain Infantry Battalion 231 belongs to the Mountain Infantry Brigade 23. With four companies and the command post, it currently forms the core of the EU-Battlegroup. The infantry battalion will be reinforced by additional Bundeswehr forces as well as soldiers from Hungary, Lithuania and the Netherlands. The force will then be expanded into a powerful multinational battlegroup and will be deployed as a rapid crisis response force of the EU for one year from 1 January 2025 to be available in the highest state of readiness. The soldiers must be ready to move within five to ten days.

The battlegroup is the core of the EUBG 2025, with additional support forces there will be a total of up to 5,000 soldiers from eleven nations. In addition to Germany, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden are also participating.

“By leading the European Union Battlegroup, Germany is visibly assuming responsibility for the EU ’s ability to act and react as well as for its credibility in the EU area of security and defence. We mountain troops are highly flexible and are able to cover a wide range of conflict potentials with the equipment we have.” Colonel Holger Peterat, Commander of Mountain Infantry Brigade 23 ‘Bavaria’.

National and alliance defence is fundamentally provided by NATO whose military orders could realistically be assigned to the EUBG. These could be, for example, initial operations carried out by the EU. In an emergency, multinational operations are also possible for the rapid stabilisation of crisis regions.

The commander of the combat unit, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Werner, explains: “In the combat training centre, we have the 231st Mountain Infantry Battalion together with supporting units of Electronic Warfare, CBRN Defence, the medical service and operational communications as well as multinational forces from the Netherlands and Lithuania. In this way we are proving our high level of combat capability and showing that we are ready for the EU ‘s mission, ideally suited and fully operational.”

Protecting the population: The infantrymen from Bad Reichenhall can also fulfil their core mission of national and alliance defence thanks to their enormous resilience. Mountain infantrymen are a combat troop, belong to the light forces in the army and can be deployed in every conceivable region of the world due to their high level of mobility, flexibility and professionalism. They are specialised in infantry fighting at high altitudes, in the mountains, in hot and even Arctic regions in summer and winter. This also includes holding their own against a professional, equal military enemy and against irregular forces such as terrorist opponents.

At the end of this year, the troops will then move to the Bergen military training area to train under the leadership of the Force Headquarters, embedded in the overall structure of the EUBG, to practice. The Force Headquarters in turn will be formed from forces of the Eurocorps in Strasbourg. After the preparatory year in 2024, the readiness year in 2025 will include another year of exercises and training at the base as well as further exercises in Europe in order to maintain the high level of training.

Source – Bundeswehr: Peter Müller

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