Polish soldiers participating in training exercises in the Getica National Training Centre in Craiova,  Romania - Photo by Romanian Ministry of Defence 

CRAIOVA, Romania - NATO's Tailored Forward Presence continues to establish its defensive capabilities in the Black Sea region with the Multi-national Divisional Headquarters South East (HQ MND-SE) in Bucharest since becoming operational in the summer of 2017.

Amongst its many key roles, HQ MND-SE overseas the NATO Force Integration Units (NFIU) in Bulgaria and Romania and commands the Multi-national Brigade South East in Craiova.

As part of the Multi-national Brigade in Craiova, the Romanian 26th Infantry Battalion "The Red Scorpions" have been maintaining their readiness posture by continuing a series of training exercises in the Getica National Training Centre. This has allowed for some demanding training but also assists in preparation for operational certification where all NATO units must be evaluated to meet a wide range of criteria, including interoperability at all levels.

"I very proud of our progress so far and I know my Brigade looks forward very much to our process of certification, and the part we will play in Exercise DARCIAN LANCER 18 later this year, " said Colonel Dan Cristian, Commander of the Multi-national Brigade Headquarters.

All arms co-operation is vital and at the tactical level this can be very testing with communications, logistical supply and tactics providing such challenges. However, through exercises and the NATO Standardisation processes NATO units through such procedures become force multipliers and very effective.

Exercise DACIAN LANCER 18 will take place in March and will provide the venue for the HQ MND-SE to be evaluated and reach its Final Capability certification. This will be a key milestone in the divisional headquarters history and in NATO as this will be the first divisional HQ in NATO to be fully certified.