The “Stamping Bison” exercise recently took place in the hilly west of the Czech Republic, in which numerous Dutch soldiers also took part. A Czech unit played the enemy during the exercise, which meant that the exercise took place in enemy territory, so to speak.
More than 1,500 soldiers and several hundred vehicles took part in “Stamping Bison”. The Dutch units moved several thousand kilometers to get to the deployment area and back again. They not only practiced combat, but also the deployment of an entire battalion as a fluid, powerful unit – from initial movement to long-term deployment. The 43rd Mechanized Brigade was the largest Dutch unit involved in the exercise.
Important step in cooperation
During the exercise, the military personnel of the Dutch army were able to improve their skills. In addition, cooperation with the NATO-country, the Czech Republic. The Dutch Ministry of Defense spoke of a “good preparation for the defence of the NATO area”.
In the first few weeks, the focus was on training within their own units: from group to company level. This training was then combined in a large-scale scenario. Here, the units operated as a battalion combat unit in which the previously learned elements – tactics, speed and cooperation – had to be applied.
Thanks to the Czech unit’s representation of the enemy, both sides were able to train under high pressure and with realistic opponents. This also allowed them to observe and learn each other’s methods.
The exercise conditions were made even more difficult by the hilly terrain, the unpredictable weather and the high operational tempo.
