Rescuer
Representatives from the Armed Forces from Italy, Turkey, USA, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic participated in the CPX "Rescuer '96" hosted by the R.Macedonia MOD.
The multinational exercise "Rescuer '97" was held in the period May 12-16, 1997 at the Krivolak Training Area in Macedonia. This was the first NATO/PfP exercise that was held in Macedonia. Four NATO member countries (USA, Italy, Greece and Turkey) and five PfP member countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and the host country - Republic of Macedonia participated in this exercise. The exercise was conducted by a multinational command, and the units are organized in multinational battalions in order to enhance the trust and the stability in this region and to expand the interoperability of the forces.
The scenario of the excercise is fully invented and has no relations with any real situation in that area.The main aim is to describe the condition and the consequences after the earthquake and effects of the toxical ammonia wave in the area. This is used in order to give logical tasks to the participating units: "On 8th of May the area around Veles was struck by an earthquake with high intensity with the epicentre in the area of the village Grnchishte (10 km. south - east of Veles). As a result of this natural disaster there were major effects in the chemical department (The Factory for the production of pesticides) in the area of the village Zgropolci i.e. a 500 tones tank of ammonia, uncontrolled leaking of it and forming of a gas cloud which caused a contamination in a larger area. Due to this the population was seriously endangered. There are 2000 victims, a big number of injured, as well as damages on the roads, bridges, the telephone communications ect. In the epicentre area there are new earthquakes with different intensity. It is evaluated that the other tank in the chemical department has some technical problems with a real danger to have new damages, in a case of a new stronger earthquake, which makes the situation more complicated. In a situation like this a group of armed robbers has emerged, stealing goods from the damaged private and public buildings. A big number of relatives out of the polluted area try to enter in this area in order to see the conditions and get information about their close relatives, which causes traffic jam on the roads and makes more difficult the rescuing, evacuation, and the relief of the condition. Due to this situation, an urgent need for help from NATO and the International Community has emerged, primarily regarding the medical aid and the evacuation of the population, sanation of the chemical department and measuring and following any possible new contamination in the area, then for clearing and repairing of the roads, ruins, transportation as well the help in the securing the objects and the area, taking measures against robbers ect..."
The concept of this "in the spirit of PfP, is based on the multinational (NATO PfP) operations - helping the host country during a natural and technical disaster. The commands and the units have multinational character. This is a complex exercise because at the same time and the relatively autonomous are performed the CPX and the practical part of the exercise with the participation of the organized units. The Exercise RESCUER '97 is performed in four stages: stage 1 - Preparations: arrival and allotment of the units, 10 - 11 May '97. stage 2 - Opening Ceremony of the exercise, 12 May '97. stage 3 - Conducting the exercise activities CPX and FTX, 13 - 15 May '97. stage 4 - Closing Ceremony of the exercise and returning home of the units, 16 - 18 May '97
Rescuer 99 begans Sept. 10 in Neptun, Romania, and concluded Sept. 19. It was a computer-assisted command post exercise, and was the third in the "Rescuer" exercise series featuring disaster scenarios. Previous Rescuer exercises were conducted in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. American participation in Rescuer 99 included approximately 40 members of the Alabama National Guard and similar number of exercise support staff from U.S. Army, Europe. Alabama is the "partner" state for Romania in the U.S. European Command's State Partnership Program. Other countries planning to participate in Rescuer 99 include Romania, the host country, as well as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova and Ukraine. Countries planning to observe the exercise are Albania, Portugal and Slovenia.
Exercise objectives included: providing participating commanders and their staffs' experience in organizing, controlling and supporting a multinational force responding to a natural disaster; to upgrade participating countries' ability to employ diverse types and amounts of equipment, materiel and service members; to conduct an operation in accordance with a common set of guiding documents; to examine and evaluate the compatibility of existing organizational structures, technical means, and plans for conducting a disaster relief exercise.
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