Ammunition and Weapons Stockpile Management Studied by National Army Service Members

CHISINAU, November 4, 2016 — The graduates of the advanced theoretical and practical ammunition course conducted as part of the Training project on ammunition and weapons stockpile management received today their diplomas during a ceremony held at the Military Academy of the Armed Forces “Alexandru cel Bun”.

The event was attended by National Army Commander, Brigadier Gen. Igor Cutie, Program manager of OSCE Mission in Moldova, Per Normark, Ambassador of Sweden to Chisinau, Signe Burgstaller, military attaché of Austria, Col. Erich Simburger, as well as multinational experts from Austria, Germany, and Sweden.

The National Army Commander thanked the representatives of the countries that have planned and conducted the course, and mentioned the importance of this course for the security and safety of Moldovan citizens.

Brigadier Gen. Igor Cutie congratulated the eight graduates — seven from the National Army and one from the Ministry of Internal Affairs — and asked them to use the knowledge obtained from the international experts in their daily service.

According to head of National Army Weapons and Ammunition Center, LTC Grigore Rata, the training was conducted within October 19-November 4 and aimed to familiarize the participants with the international procedures on ammunition visual inspection and chemical testing.

The source specified that the course participants studied the visual inspection of ammunition and carried out chemical tests on ammunition of the National Army.

LTC Rata added that the first part of the course — the visual inspection — was conducted by instructors from the National Army Weapons and Ammunition Center, while the second part — the ammunition chemical testing — was conducted by the team of national experts, supervised by instructors from Austria, Germany, and Sweden.

The “Ammunition and weapons stockpile management” course has three stages and is part of the series of projects implemented under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Defense and OSCE on the implementation of the Complex Program on Small Arms and Light Weapons and conventional weapons in the Republic of Moldova, signed on October 28, 2010.

The course started in spring 2014 and will end in 2017.