CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - Clouds of red smoke cover a crowd and riot control training area as multinational Soldiers-assigned to the Kosovo Force peace support mission-trained with fierce intent during Bavarian Thunder, a training exercise held Dec. 3 at Camp Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, Kosovo.
The exercise was held to maintain continued readiness for the peacekeeping forces, should they be needed to assist local authorities in ensuring safety, security or freedom of movement in Kosovo.
Polish Soldiers who recently arrived in Kosovo joined German and Hungarian soldiers assigned to the Multinational Battle Group-East's Forward Command Post for the intense exercise, where Hungarian and German security teams worked together to control unruly protesters acted out by the Polish contingent.
The exercise not only trained the forces on crowd and riot control tactics, but also built interoperability between the FCP's multinational forces.
"Our task for the exercise was to provide support to the Hungarian security team, who were tasked to control the protesters," said the German commander in charge of the security element, who assisted their Hungarian partners during the exercise.
"The intent was to train with other international forces and learn how to communicate," he said.
During the exercise, the Hungarian and German security elements rehearsed non-lethal measures, such as positioning their vehicles and throwing smoke grenades to simulate tear gas. To make the exercise life-like, the soldiers donned gas masks, and security elements dispatched medical teams to carry troops with simulated injuries toward proper treatment.
"It is important to improve skill sets for this type of training and know the tactics used by other forces as well;" said the German commander. "This training is needed to maintain a high level of readiness and become more proficient."
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