Two National Army subdivisions certified for international peacekeeping operations  

Chisinau, 24 June /MOLDPRES/- An infantry company and a group of sappers of the National Army's Battalion 22 have been certified to participate in peacekeeping operations with international mandate. The decision has been recently taken by a group of foreign experts, who assessed the sub-units, in line with the Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) within the Peace Shield 2015 exercise.

Colonel Andrei Sevcenco said that the servicemen participating in the exercise had got Combat Ready grade, after being tested by ten assessors from Germany, France, Austria, Azerbaijan and Turkey, in terms of the best practices from scenes of operations.

The 130 servicemen of the National Army fulfilled missions in different training places, including searching automotive equipment at checkpoints, ensuring security of strategic units, convoy and escort, medical evacuation etc.

The National Army joined OCC in 2007. The OCC is a cooperation instrument within the Partnership for Peace programme, expressed by implementing Western standards in training and assessing declared sub-units, and gives  Moldova possibility to participate in multinational peacekeeping operations.

The Peace Shield 2015 was carried out at Balti-based Moldova motorized infantry brigade on 16-19 June.

(Reporter V. Rusu, editor M. Jantovan)