Night Training Exercise in Pristina

“The only way for us to acquire professionalism, which is one of the indispensable preconditions of success, is by making use of the lessons learnt recently and by conducting carefully planned and precisely implemented training exercises. The recent night training in Camp Slim Lines, Pristina was the umpteenth step in sustaining the training standards on the required level", told us Lt. Viktor Tabányi, the commander of C company of the KFOR TACRES Battalion.

The training objective was to achieve that the peacekeepers can use their acquired skills even under extreme circumstances, so the exercise was mounted in the night hours. The primary task was to learn the proper wear and use of the protective riot gears – they need to be drilled in these things until they become second nature.

“It is important to let our troops adapt themselves to the situation in which they cannot use all their sense organs, so that the skills “built in the muscles" come into play", the lieutenant said, adding that the difficulties were increasing during the exercise. The very poor visibility conditions were made even worse as the platoons were ordered to move “over hedge and ditch" in a single file, so they put great emphasis on proper communication within the formation.

The role-players, that is, the team of “bad boys" was present at the exercise to add a further complication to the circumstances of the practice. They imitated the use of tear grenades, so the peacekeepers had to wear gas masks in addition to their individual riot gears. The CRC exercise culminated in a situation where some “protesters" started to provoke the peacekeepers.