TULCEA: The new recruits of the River Flotilla received the qualification “excellent”

The new recruits of the “Mihail Kogălniceanu” River Flotilla, a unique structure in NATO, received, on Wednesday, the “excellent” qualification, at the end of some sequences within the Danube Protector exercise that takes place, between October 16-21, in the Danube Delta.

The commander of the flotilla, Commander Marcel Neculae, told AGERPRES that he appreciated the high level of training of the command teams of the exercise, both at the level of the river battle group, as well as the ship command teams of the recently appointed officers.

“I appreciate the whole activity with the qualification ‘excellent’. The entire range of specific objectives assumed for this exercise have been met. (…) We assessed a high level of training of the command teams both at the river battle group level, as well as at the ship command teams of the newly appointed officers, simultaneously with the rapid integration and increasing the level of cohesion of the crews through assimilation/ the integration of young officers, military foremen recently graduated from naval military schools, as well as young comrades coming from the internal training school of the Naval Forces, they assimilated the necessary knowledge and formed the practical skills absolutely necessary for use in combat of the equipment and technique on board the ships, without which we cannot talk about performance at the level of the Romanian Naval Forces”, said the commander of the river flotilla.

Being asked about the impact of the exercise on the environment and the local community, Commander Neculae stated that the temporary training ground where the exercise is taking place operates based on a protocol concluded with the local authorities and the Delta Administration and that the protection measures are applied and respected on board the ships the environment.

“The fact that we have a very strong presence, a river battle group that projects the most modern capabilities of the river flotilla at the mouths of the Danube (…), sends a clear message both to the local community, to the entire constellation of villages on one bank or the other of arm of Saint Gheorghe and if you want to the citizens of the country that here, at the mouth of the Danube, as long as the ships of the River Flotilla will float on the waters of the old Danube, the peace of the country and the citizens is fully ensured from the sea and the river”, said Commander Marcel Neculae.

One of the sequences of the exercise brought to the fore the Marine Infantry Regiment (RIM) 307 from Babadag, a unique structure in Romania, which, two weeks ago, carried out an exercise in the Danube Delta alongside French and American troops.

“Obviously we want to have participants (in the exercises, ed.) from all the marine infantry forces of the European allies. We are constantly conducting joint exercises with the American partner, but we expect that in the future we will have exercises with the Italian, Spanish, and Turkish marines. There are a number of NATO partners with whom we want joint exercises”, said the RIM commander, Colonel Marius Gheorghescu.

During a sequence of the exercise presented to the media on Wednesday, the RIM commander intervened for an incident.

“I had a tube that the extractor claw couldn’t extract anymore. (…) Small incidents are inherent in any shooting, because the technique breaks down, no matter how efficient it is. The Marine must be ready, fix on the spot, and get back into combat. Stop, fix and then resume the fight”, Colonel Gheorghescu told the media.

The military exercise is taking place at a distance of about 300 kilometers from the Crimean peninsula and about 40 kilometers from the Snake Island, according to the spokesman of the General Staff of the Naval Forces (SMFN), colonel Corneliu Pavel.

“The area of ​​responsibility of the Romanian Naval Forces includes approximately 30,000 square kilometers in the Black Sea, a maritime space where our country also has critical infrastructure, and I am referring here to the oil platforms. (…) Since this unprovoked war began in Ukraine, we, the Romanian Naval Forces, are present with ships and forces in the Danube Delta and the Black Sea, we have a permanent naval presence in Sulina and monitor commercial traffic and actions in the vicinity of our borders. The volatile security environment in the Black Sea has changed our mode of action and made us readjust our activity plans, and the exercises have become much more complex”, stated the SMFN representative.

Corneliu Pavel recalled that the “Mihail Kogălniceanu” River Flotilla is a unique structure both in the Romanian Army and in the security architecture of the North Atlantic Alliance, the flotilla possessing the forces and technical means to operate both in the Delta and on the sea coast Black.

RIM 307, another unique structure in the Romanian military landscape, compared to the US Marines, is part of the River Flotilla.

More than 300 soldiers from the River Flotilla participate, between October 16 and 21, in the “Danube Protector” exercise of the River Naval Forces. The military has at its disposal modern warships, fast assault craft, and they have been joined by a maritime intervention tug with divers, with a detachment of EOD divers on board and a detachment of river divers.

The exercise, which includes live ammunition firing, is based on a fictitious scenario, adapted to the current security environment, in accordance with national defense and security legislation, according to the SMFN.

Source – AGERPRES / Online editor – D. Sîrbu