Romania. The Eastern Flank: Exercise "Dacian Lancer 2023"

About 900 soldiers from several countries that have troops deployed in Romania participated in the "Dacian Lancer 2023" exercise that took place between September 11 and 22, at the "Getica" National Joint Training Center in Cincu, Brașov county (the center of Romania). The soldiers involved in the exercise were part of the Multinational Division South-East Command and the Multinational Brigade South-East Command, two NATO command structures located on the territory of Romania.

Participating in the exercise were also soldiers from the Allied Battle Group in Romania, with France as the framework country, soldiers from the NATO Battle Group in Bulgaria under Italian command, from the Bulgarian 2nd Mechanized Brigade and from the 2nd Mechanized Battalion from Portugal.

"Dacian Lancer 2023" was a tactical command exercise that was meant to assess the combat capability level of the commands of the Multinational Brigade South-East, of the 300th Support Battalion and the 45th Communications and Informatics Battalion, the last two structures belonging to the Romanian Land Forces. The exercise was planned and led by the Multinational Division South-East Command.

The deputy commander of this structure, French Brigadier General Loik Girard, told us that "The strength of this exercise is that NATO provides a general framework that everyone knows very well and the participating nations train together and practice their procedures and common language'.

Lieutenant-Colonel Kris Callaerts, an officer of the Canadian Army, stated for the Romanian Army's ‘Jurnal Militar’ Military Journal Radio Network that "It is important to add realism to the exercise in order to give the training audience as faithful a picture as possible of what is happening in the field."

For the Italian soldiers of the Allied Battle Group in Bulgaria, the NATO motto "Together we are stronger" is not just a simple motto, but "represents a real commitment to ensuring peace and security where necessary", said Lt. Giuseppe Napoletano.

We also inform you that a detachment of the US Air Force in Europe arrived on September 22 in Romania, at the 86th Air Base in Borcea (south-eastern Romania). The contingent consists of 100 military personnel and 4 F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft. The American military will carry out Reinforced Air Policing missions and joint training missions with the Romanian Air Force.

According to a press release from the Romanian Defense Ministry, the joint air policing and training missions contribute to increasing the reaction and deterrence capacity, as well as to strengthening the interoperability between the Romanian and American Air Forces.

The US Ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Kavalec, showed a few days ago that the United States is concerned about the security situation in the Black Sea region, in the context generated by the illegal attacks constantly carried out by Russia on Ukraine’s port infrastructure on the Danube. Kavalec also said that the American government remained fully committed to strengthening Romania's and NATO's capabilities to defend and deter any aggression against the allied common territory on the eastern flank.

And the latest piece of news in today’s program comes from the Combat Training Center in Smârdan, Galați county (eastern Romania), where French and Belgian soldiers from the NATO Battle Group deployed in Romania are involved in joint training together with soldiers from the 15th Mechanized Brigade of the Romanian Land Forces until the end of September. (Adrian Gîtman, tr. LS)