European Union Battle Group led by Belgian army trains in Germany to prepare EU certification 280214

Belgium is very proud to command this European Force which could be deployed on the ground within 5–10 days up to 6,000 km (from Brussels) after approval from the Council of the European Union.

The Battle Group of the European Union for the second half of 2014 will be led by Belgium under the command of Colonel Philippe Boucké, current Commander of the Medium Brigade, and will be consisted of six participating countries: the Republic of Macedonia, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Germany, and the leader of Belgium.

The EUBG provides the European Union (EU) with a specific tool in the range of rapid response capabilities, which contributes making the EU more coherent, more active and more capable. It enables the EU to be a global actor, ready to undertake its share of responsibility for global security, by responding rapidly to emerging crisis with military means.

Army Recognition editorial team was on the field to cover the military exercises perform by the EUBG European Union Battle Group in Grafenwoehr , Germany.

During a press conference, Thursday, February 28, 2014, Major-General Hubert De Vos, Commander of the Belgian Land Forces, said " Every soldiers of the Belgian army and members of the EUBG are ready to provide an high level of training to fulfill their mission".

"Belgian Land Forces are now equipped with modern armoured vehicles and equipment to ensure the safety and the lives of its soldiers to perform NATO or European Union missions and to keep peace in the world.", he added.

During these training exercises, soldiers negotiate scenarios to support humanitarian aid missions and missions to assist displaced persons and refugees, and the identification, search and capture of persons suspected of war crimes.

The main force of this EUBG is the Infantry Task Force (ITF). Besides an HQ, this ITF comprises a support coy and an infantry coy equipped with Piranha IIIC APCs from the Medium Battalion Carabiniers Prins Boudewijn-Grenadiers (1C/1Gr),which is stationed in Leopoldsburg (Belgium), a coy equipped with Piranha IIIC vehicles with Direct Fire (DF90) capability (90mm cannon) from the Medium Battalion Bevrijding – 5e Linie also stationed in Leopoldsburg, an infantry coy from the 44 Pantserinfanteriebataljon equipped with CV90 APCs based in Havelte (the Netherlands) and an infantry coy from the 12 Infanteriebataljon equipped with Bushmaster 4×4 armoured vehicles stationed in Schaarsbergen (the Netherlands).

The Combat Support (CS) consists of an ISTAR Battalion (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance), reinforced with a Luxemburg Recce coy and a Spanish Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) unit, a Spanish artillery unit and an air-defense platoon for the necessary fire support. Engineer support is provided by a coy composed of Belgian and Spanish engineers. The helicopter detachment is composed of six Belgian A-109 multirole helicopters from the 1 Wing in Beauvechain, German CH-53 “Stallions” transport helicopters from Hubschraubergeschwader 64 (64ste Squadron) based in Laupheim and Dutch CH-47 “Chinooks” transport helicopters from the 298ste Squadron based in Gilze-Rijen.

Combat Service Support is provided by a Theater Logistic Base and a multinational medical Task Force. Within this medical Task Force, the Role 1 is organized by Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany.