Romania Prepares to Defend Its Territory: ‘Saber Guardian 23’ Military Exercise

In Romania, the major multinational training event “Saber Guardian 23” continues the biennial series of “Saber Guardian” exercises, started in 2013, aimed at enhancing interoperability in a wide range of missions for forces from NATO and partner states. The training activities generally include tactical land movements, watercourse forcing, tactical exercises with and without combat firing (with the technique of all categories of forces), parachutes, evacuation training and treatment of the wounded. From one exercise to another, “Saber Guardian” materialized into a platform for progressive training process development. The increased number of linked training sequences within “Saber Guardian” has increased operational complexity and military participation in a multinational format. This year, in “Saber Guardian 23,” a training component in the cyber defence field was introduced, including specialists from Romania, the USA, and Montenegro.

The primary sequences of “Saber Guardian 23” take place in the “Getica” National Combat Training Center in Cincu (Brașov), in the Secondary Combat Training Centers in Smârdan (Galați) and Babadag (Tulcea), in the Ground-to Air firing range of the Air Defense Training School “General Ion Bungescu” (Capu Midia) and in the 57th Air Base “Mihail Kogălniceanu” (Constanța). At the same time, practical events also take place in the training facilities in Slobozia and Bordușani (Ialomița), Vărsătura (Brăila), and Frecăței (Tulcea). The participating states with troops and combat equipment at “Saber Guardian 23” are Albania, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Moldova, the United States of America, the Netherlands and Romania. In the “Hospital Exercise 23” medical evacuation sequence (part of “Saber Guardian 23”), alongside medical and air transport personnel from Poland, Romania, and the United States of America, personnel from the Republic of Turkey are also involved.

         The “Saber Guardian 23” scenario is fictitious. It is based on the allied states’ reaction in applying the principle of collective defence, according to Art. 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. So the borders of an allied territory were forced by the offensive actions of some opposing forces.  The strategic objective pursued by the defence operation is the rejection of the enemy forces and the liberation of the allied territory. The national forces manage to stop the enemy’s offensive by delaying the enemy’s actions on straight allies until the entry into the battle of the grouping of multinational allied forces. They, through decisive and rapid offensive actions, liberated allied territory. The exercise dynamics included delaying and blocking the opposing forces until the operational phase of forcing the Danube through several crossing points and creating bridgeheads to launch the final counteroffensive.

In the sequence of the “Saber Guardian 23” exercise from Bordușani, the maneuver forces of the Southeast Multinational Brigade and the 495th Parachute Battalion penetrate the enemy’s defensive positions, force the passage of the Danube through several points and establish bridgeheads to continue the counteroffensive actions and release allied territory. The actions of the allied force group are supported by ground structures ISR, artillery, engineering, CBRN, and military police, respectively, by naval structures, river flotilla and marine infantry, and air structures, with aircraft and helicopter cells.

“Saber Guardian 23”, a pinnacle of professional training, is integrated into the exercise complex “DEFENDER 23”, carried out by the US military of the US Army V Corps. “Saber Guardian 23” included planning and organization stages that began before those of operational execution, which are currently taking place.

The exercise was preceded, during May, by the arrival of troops and equipment on the country’s road, naval, and air communication routes to the training areas. The stages of the discharge of forces will follow from the second decade of June. The Joint Force Command “General Ioan- Emanoil Florescu” exercises command and control over the structures in “Saber Guardian 23”.

DEFENDER 23 is planned by US Army Europe Command (USEUCOM) and led by US Army Europe and Africa Command (USAREUR-AF). Exercise “Saber Guardian 23” is included in the USAREUR-AF joint training exercise program to increase the interoperability of the armed forces of allied and partner nations.