Joint Press Statement by COMEUFOR Major General Friedrich Schrötter and Commander of the AFBiH Operational Command, Major General Dragan Vuković
Commander EUFOR (COMEUFOR) Major General Friedrich Schrötter and AFBiH Operational Commander Major General Dragan Vucković are pleased to announce the combined Exercise “Quick Response 2016”. This exercise is the culmination of nearly two years of planning and will take place in the AF BiH military exercise area Manjača, near Banja Luka later this month.
The EUFOR Multinational Battalion (MNBN) has been working closely with Armed Forces BiH (AFBiH) combining training and shared skills and experiences which will be demonstrated during the exercise. Over 500 Soldiers from EUFOR, AFBiH, United Kingdom, Austria, Hungary and the NATO KFOR Portuguese Tactical Reserve Company will work closely together in BiH. This regional exercise will also allow EUFOR and NATO Sa Headquarters to exercise command and control in a large scale exercise. The troops will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and experience of patrolling, escorting, convoys, MEDEVAC, extraction and evacuation. There will also be an opportunity to refine their specialist skills of Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Non-combatant Extraction Operations (NEO).
COM EUFOR announced “This annual exercise demonstrates to the people of BiH that their Armed Forces are able to work autonomously and in partnership with EUFOR and European partner nations in large scale exercises and military operations.”
Major General Dragan Vuković also stated: “Combined Exercise “Quick Response 2016” is a very significant event for the AF BiH to apply in practice the capabilities and skills acquired through collective training with the EUFOR Multinational Battalion. Exercise “Quick Response 2016” confirms the readiness and interoperability of the units of the AF BiH to act jointly with EUFOR.“
EUFOR Operation Althea is currently made up of soldiers from 15 EU member states and 5 partner nations. Its primary roles are to provide capacity building and training support to the Armed Forces of BiH and to support BiH efforts to maintain a safe and secure environment, whilst providing support to the overall EU comprehensive strategy for BiH.