Around 100 soldiers from the Mountain Combat Center have been in Bulgaria since mid-March for the multinational exercise “Rhodope 2024”. Together with armed forces from Bulgaria, Croatia and Italy, they are practising international cooperation and operations in high alpine terrain.
After the opening ceremony, conducted by the commander of the Bulgarian 101st Alpine Regiment in Smolyan, training began last week as part of a station operation. Among other things, the “Sustain/Mountain Living” station (survival and living in the mountains) was on the agenda for the soldiers of the mountain combat center’s fighter company. The soldiers set up bivouacs at around 2,000 meters above sea level in wintry conditions and spent the night in the thick snow of the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains.
At the end of the week, a visitors’ day was held with a combat demonstration by the multinational battalion. In addition to the Bulgarian Minister of Defense and the Bulgarian Deputy Chief of General Staff as well as numerous high-ranking representatives of the Bulgarian land forces, an Austrian delegation led by Major General Anton Wessely and Deputy Austrian Ambassador Antonia Bierbaumer, accompanied by Defense Attaché Colonel Thomas Kobosil, took part. On Palm Sunday, a field mass was held under the direction of military dean Dietmar Gopp. He blessed the Austrian soldiers and wished them “all the best and good luck as soldiers” for the rest of the exercise. https://militaeraktuell.at/sonderlackierung-zu-50-jahre-tornado/ The Austrian contingent, consisting mainly of soldiers from the Mountain Combat Center and supported by militiamen and experts from Directorate 3 and the 6th Mountain Brigade, will take part in the joint final exercise after a challenging first week of training. The aim and purpose will be to put what has been learned into practice.
Colonel Jörg Rodewald, commander of the Austrian contingent, was highly satisfied with the performance of the Austrian soldiers so far and hopes that the exercise will continue to be instructive.
