Romanian and Turkish Airmen Join Forces in NATO Missions

Last week, Air Base 86 hosted the certification ceremony of the Turkish Air Force detachment deployed to Romania

România Internațional, 12.12.2023, 18:58

Last week, Air Base 86, (named after Lieutenant Aviator Gheorghe Mociorniţă), in Feteşti (south-east Romania), hosted the certification ceremony of the Turkish Air Force detachment deployed to Romania to perform missions for enhanced air policing. The activity took place in the presence of the ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Bucharest, Özgür Kıvanç Altan, the commander of the Torrejon Multinational Air Operations Center, Lieutenant General Juan Pablo Sánchez De Lara, the deputy for operations of the Turkish Air Force, Major General Kemal Turan, and of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Major General Leonard-Gabriel Baraboi.

Secretary of State with the Romanian Ministry of National Defense, Simona Cojocaru, said during the ceremony: “This NATO Enhanced Air Policing mission, with the participation, for the first time, of the Air Force of the Republic of Turkey, is of vital importance for the deterrence and defense posture, for protecting allied airspace, and maintaining the security and stability of our region. The Republic of Turkey is a strategic partner and ally of Romania”.

Chief of defense staff General Gheorghiță Vlad recalled that, this year, the allied solidarity for strengthening the air police service of the Romanian Air Force materialized through the participation in surveillance and air defense missions of some American, French, Italian, Spanish, and German detachments, and now the Turkish detachment. Joint air police missions contribute to the development of reaction and deterrence capacity, as well as to the strengthening of interoperability between the Romanian Air Force and the Turkish Air Force.

We stay within the scope of NATO, to tell you that soldiers from the combat group deployed to Romania participated in the second Eagle Fury exercise of their mandate, under Belgian command, alongside the Romanian troops from the 20th Black Scorpions Infantry Battalion. The purpose of the exercise was to evaluate different tactical shooting scenarios, by integrating the joint action of the French, Romanian, Polish, and Luxembourg soldiers with the Belgian ones. Thus, all allied forces deployed to Romania maintained and validated their joint operational capability. Fire sessions with Belgian Piranha armored vehicles, French light armored vehicles, and Leclerc tanks took place at the Smârdan Secondary Combat Training Center, in Galati county (east). Over two days, over 57,800 rounds were fired, and over a hundred smoke bombs.

Also in our country, and also in terms of training, from December 4 to 8, the Mountain Thunder 23 multinational exercise took place in the Vatra Dornei garrison (north). The exercise, held by the soldiers from the 17th Dragoș Vodă Mountain Hunter Battalion, included soldiers of NATO troops from France, Poland, Belgium, and Portugal deployed on Romanian territory. Several platoons from these countries trained together in mountaineering and close combat in mountainous terrain. NATO soldiers also experienced different forms of combat in the locality, as well as marches in mountainous terrain, through the snowy mountains of the Vatra Dornei area. At the end, the multinational teams organized shooting sessions, exchanging weapons and equipment with each other to get to know each other better.

by Constantin Herțanu