Bulgaria hosts Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise for the first time

source Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria

September 19, 2011 defpro.com

"For the first time Bulgaria has hosted Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise in which participate European NATO member states and partner states," said Bulgarian Defence Minister Anu Anguelov after the demonstrations on the VIP day of the Jackal Stone 2011 Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise at Novo Selo training range.

The exercise takes place in the period September 6th – 30th on the territories of three states – Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine simultaneously and is coordinated by U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR).

"The exercise allows us to enhance interaction and improve the results of the units' preparation," emphasized Minister Anguelov.

The performance of the Bulgarian Special Forces was commended by Mr. Boyko Borisov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria who followed the demonstrations together with Minister Anguelov and H.E. James Warlick, Ambassador of the USA to Bulgaria.

Pursuant to the scenario, the joint Bulgarian-American groups apprehended weapons trafficker and a leader of a terrorist organization. They demonstrated activities on seizing and search of a building, taking biometric data for individual identification and blockage of moving motorcade.

The Special Forces performed "fast rope" airborne landing from Air Force Cougar helicopters where the aircraft hovered in close proximity to the target. The helicopters enabled the troops from air and demonstrated medical evacuation of a wounded in the course of action personnel.

The Exercise was also attended by Mr. Dobroslav Dimitrov, Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Policy and Defence, Mrs. Avgustina Tsvetkova, Deputy Minister of Defence, Vice Admiral Minko Kavaldzhiev, Deputy Chief of Defence, Lieutenant General Atanas Samandov, Commander of Joint Force Command, Major General Michael S. Repass, Commander of SOCEUR, Army and Air Force Commanders Major General Stefan Vasilev and Major General Konstantin Popov, General Plamen Lilov, Commander of 68 Special Forces Brigade, Mr. Marin Kavrakov and Mrs. Tanya Dimitrova, Sliven and Yambol District Governors, defence attaches, representatives of municipalities, etc.

For the first time Bulgarian military units have participated in the Joint Jackal Stone 2011 Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise. Jackal Stone Exercise takes place in the period September 6th – 30th on the territories of three states – Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine simultaneously. More than 1500 Special Operations Forces troops from nine states – Bulgaria, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, the USA, Croatia, Ukraine and Hungary take part in it. Jackal Stone-2011 is coordinated by U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). Chief of the Multinational Joint Special Operations Forces Component Command HQ is Colonel Yavor Mateev, head of the Bulgarian MoD "Joint Facilities" department.