Romania. The Eastern Flank
Complex Training in Piatra Neamț for Romanian and Portuguese Troops
Agenția Media a Armatei, 25.03.2026, 13:35
A detachment of soldiers from the 634th Infantry Battalion in Piatra Neamț (northeast Romania) recently trained alongside a platoon of Portuguese Allies with the Multinational Brigade South-East based in Craiova (south). The exercise was designed to improve interoperability and exchange best practices between the two participating contingents, within a joint training program. The event included firing sessions at the Gârleni shooting range, an urban environment training module, an exercise to resolve a tactical situation in the Dealul Vulpii shooting range, and training adapted to the mountain and forest conditions in the Tarcău Mountains.
The Portuguese unit was led by Lieutenant Paulo Fernandes, who views the joint experience as an important step in developing cooperation between the militaries of the two countries: “I think it was a valuable opportunity for the troops of both countries. We were able to learn more about the culture and how they work here. At the same time, we were able to see how our soldiers perform in the exercises. I think it is a very useful training for both platoons, who exchanged knowledge of operations, weapons and vehicles. It is an experience that we believe we need to repeat, so as to become better, to know each other better and to develop effective interoperability between us. I believe the most important benefits include communicating in different languages, collaborating with people from other nations and gaining new perspectives on our work. It is very useful for us, because it gives us different approaches from what we did in Portugal and helps us learn valuable lessons to become better,” the Portuguese officer told us.
The participating troops were able to improve their skills, exchange know-how and procedures, and develop new collaborative relationships. The activities were designed to cover a wide range of tactical situations, emphasising teamwork and quick adaptation to specific conditions in the operational environment.
Corporal Ruben Oliveira, a Portuguese soldier directly involved in the training activities jointly with the Romanian infantrymen, explained: “We carry out live fire exercises together with the Romanian soldiers. The know-how exchange between the armies is beneficial. It is an interesting activity, in which I have the opportunity to meet nice people. It was something special, the Romanians used our weapons, and we used theirs. Even though we work in different ways, there are things that the Romanian Army does better and things that we do better. That is why we adapt, to capitalize on what each of us does best. We share know-how, learn from each other and try to become better. The Romanian troops listen to us carefully, and we, in turn, listen to the valuable experience they have and try to improve our tactics and techniques, to be better from one day to the next”, the Portuguese officer stated.
It was the third time this year that Piatra Neamţ infantrymen trained alongside NATO soldiers, after in February they worked with Belgian and Spanish Allies from the NATO Battle Group in Cincu (center). Both participating subunits benefited from this experience, as such exercises directly contribute to increasing the training level, consolidating interoperability and strengthening relations between the soldiers of the Allied states on the Eastern Flank. (AMP)
