British General at the Ministry of DefenseChisinau, June 9, 2016 — Minister of Defense Anatol Salaru met today with General Martyn Gamble, Commander of 160th Brigade from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The officials discussed about starting a State Partnership Program between the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment and the National Army, similar to the ongoing program with the North Carolina National Guard (USA). The Minister of Defense said that this initiative aims to establish a long-term cooperation, in a special format, that would allow achieving concrete results, relevant to the interoperability issue. Anatol Salaru specified that, through these programs, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova could obtain assistance in different sectors, including military education. During the meeting, the Minister of Defense and the Commander of 160th Brigade from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland discussed about the defense sector reformation, the development of the National Army capabilities, and the Moldovan-British cooperation. Anatol Salaru informed Martyn Gamble about the implementation of the Defense Capacity Building Initiative (DCBI), specifying that it represents one of the main elements in the reformation of the defense sector. The Defense Minister also mentioned the implementation of the Interoperability Platform and saidthat it is important to identify the mechanisms that would ensure the interoperability at all levels: human, procedural, and technical. Gen. Gamble stated that Great Britain supports the reforms started in the defense sector and is ready to initiate new cooperation programs with the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova. Also today, the Commander of 160th Brigade from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland met with acting Chief of General Staff, National Army Commander, Brigadier Gen. Igor Cutie. |