National Army Conducts “Peace Shield” Exercise

CHISINAU, June 21, 2018 — A contingent of service members from the National Army and the Romanian Army is participating in the peacekeeping exercise “Peace Shield — 2018” that is conducted at the Training center of “Moldova” Brigade from Balti, within June 19-22, 2018.

According to commander of the exercise, LTC Alexandru Marcuta, the exercise’s goal is to evaluate the operational capabilities of an infantry company and the mortar battery of the 22nd Peacekeeping Battalion for participation in an international peacekeeping mission as part of a multinational contingent, in compliance with the Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC).

The source mentioned that the 250 service members carry out missions on various training sites, while being assisted by national and international evaluators and observed by OCC experts from Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Romania, Finland, Germany, Ukraine, Georgia, USA, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and the United Kingdom.

The service members are tested on carrying out missions in an international theatre of operations, such as: patrol, convoy and escort, verifying civilians and vehicles at checkpoints, ensuring the security of strategic facilities, medical evacuation and first aid. The soldiers of the mortar battery will also conduct shooting drills.

The Operational Capabilities Concept is a cooperation tool within the Partnership for Peace Program designed to implement Western standards in the training and evaluation of declared subunits and offers the Republic of Moldova the opportunity to participate in multinational peacekeeping operations. In 2012, for the first time ever, an infantry company from the 22nd Peacekeeping Battalion and an engineer team from “Codru” Engineer Battalion were certified to participate in international peacekeeping missions in compliance with the OCC.

The National Army joined OCC in 2007.