Joint training of Spanish military of the NATO Battle group and the Romanian Mountain Hunters.

NATO's eastern flank, strengthened though recent training exercises

Eugen Nasta, 19.02.2025, 14:00

Joint training of Spanish military of the NATO Battle group and the Romanian Mountain Hunters.
Scout militaries of the Mountain Hunters’ 61st Brigade jointly with the Spanish military Battle group, for two weeks running took a training stage hosted by the training camp in Diham, Brasov County.

For the Spanish military, training in Romania was, to put it at the mildest, unusual, since they are Marines special corps, whereas their training in Romania took place in the Carpathians’ snow-covered forests and peaks.

Training in the mountains offered militaries of both armies the opportunity to share their professional experience in a bid to enhance the interoperability level using joint procedures in various tactical operations. The forested mountain terrain, difficult to access, strengthened the team spirit and the sense of belonging to the great NATO family.

These are the thoughts shared by the commander of the Spanish contingent, major Alejandro Caballero:

“By all means, the climate here is quite different from the one we have in southern Spain, where we come from. There are a great many differences, also, if we speak about the terrain where we train, that is on the coast and in the littoral area. And now, here we are now, in the mountains, in winter, rubbing shoulders with our Romanian partners, an opportunity for us to prove our flexibility and adaptability, irrespective of the environment. Regarding the training exercises, they are similar, as both Romania and our country are NATO member states, so there are not that many differences, considering the implemented techniques, tactics and procedures. I take into account any opportunity to train jointly with military of other states who are stationed here, in Romania, so for us it is a tremendous opportunity. “

Attending the joint Romanian-Spanish training stage was the new commander of the NATO Battle group in Romania, French colonel Thierry Denechaud.

Colonel Denechaud had this to say on the joint training exercise:

“First of all, I believe it is very important that joint action be taken, given that the Spanish militaries are part of a marine infantry contingent. It was for the first time ever when they trained in a mountain area, therefore, jointly with their Romanian partners, they made the first step towards the discovery of an environment they are not quite used to. I am positive that as part of the camp they learned many new and useful things, that is why, at the end of the week, they will return to the military base better prepared in that particular kind of training. Which is very good. “

A team of US Army’s Civil Affairs and representatives of the 1st CIMIC Battalion, a civilians-militaries cooperation body of the Romanian Ground Forces were in Timisoara, in the west, for a new stage of the CIMIC Victory exercise. CIMIC Victory’s stated aims are the enhancement of the cooperation between institutions and the promotion of the strategic partnership between Romania and the Unites States.

Captain Connor Smith is the leader of the US team. Captain Smith spoke about the relevance of the project.

“US Army’s Civil Affairs mainly deal in the coordination and the management of military activities related to the communities revolving around the military operations. In Romania, that basically means training. We provided help keeping the authorities at the level of public institutions informed about the training exercises. We make sure such aspects as the convoys entering and getting out of the training areas do not interfere that much with the people’s daily traffic or day-to-day life.

This morning I’ve been to a high-school in Timisoara, via the American Corner, which is the US Embassy’s program, where we participate in a bid to speak about the value of the US partnership in Romania and the importance of Romania being a NATO member state. We’re going to speak a little bit about the security provided by collective defense, one of the Alliance’s fundamental principles, also talking about the value of the bilateral partnership between the United States and Romania. “