NATO say its enhanced forward presence battlegroup in Lithuania recently took part in exercise Namejs 2018 in Latvia, along with around 10,000 participants from 13 NATO Allies.
It’s understood that the exercise concluded on 2 September 2018, after two action-filled weeks of training, focusing on the mobility, readiness and interoperability of NATO and national forces. It was the largest exercise of its kind ever conducted in Latvia and took place in every region of the country.
The Czech Mechanised Infantry Company brought around 180 troops and 15 Pandur-II Infantry Fighting Vehicles from Lithuania to Latvia to take part in various exercise scenarios.
“Like we predicted, the constant manoeuvring from one place to another, which our role in the exercise required, was one of our main challenges, but the troops did very well,” said LtCol Jiří Líbal, commander of the Czech unit in Lithuania according to a NATO release.
“Our troops were mostly playing the opposing forces, engaging defensive units in built up areas, forests and other terrains. Among other tasks, we engaged the Latvian National Reservist Units and the NATO battlegroup in Latvia in their defensive positions,” he added.
The Commander of the Joint Headquarters of Latvian Army, Lt. Gen. Leonids Kalnins, underlined that the training impressed him: “I personally witnessed that the level of tactic and combat skills of the Czech company is on a very high level.”
