Finnish, Dutch, and German soldiers meet in EU battlegroup exercise

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"Cooperation is not only working, it is working well", said German Lieutenant General Jan Oerding at the Leipheim military base in Bavaria on Monday.
      Oerding was discussing the ongoing exercise of the German, Dutch, and Finnish battlegroup in the area.
      For a week and a half, the first multinational battlegroup has been taking part in a joint exercise involving 480 soldiers from the various countries.
      The group will be on call from the beginning of the year. For six months it will be ready for deployment at five days notice for crisis management duties around the world.
     
Officers said that there were no major difficulties in linking up the operational cultures of the three armies. However, there have also been some problems.
      "It was agreed that English would be the common language. However, not all of the Germans speak English well enough", said Lieutenant Mikko Porvali.
      Porvali said that the "broken telephone" phenomenon became familiar when orders were translated into different languages.
      Porvali and two other Finnish military police have been placed inside a German company of MPs.
      "It is apparent that the culture of the Finnish military is based on that of the Germans, and was brought to Finland by the Jaegers", says Porvali, who is a history buff.
     
Something of a culture shock for the Finns was the selection of beverages at the Mannschaftsheim - the canteen.
      Beer is available there, and for those who buy five bottles, the sixth is free.
      However, the Finns were not able to avail themselves of the unfamiliar luxury, because a policy of zero tolerance toward alcohol prevails during the exercises.
     
The Leipheim exercise was primarily a staff exercise, in which the command centre of about 100 soldiers were given a simulated crisis management task in a country called "Fontinals".
      However, for the Finnish company, the exercise was also a genuine field exercise, as the Finns did what they are supposed to do in a real situation: protect the staff headquarters.
      Additional excitement was provided by local conscripts who would hold demonstrations at the gates of the headquarters from time to time.
      Finnish Minister of Defence Seppo Kääriäinen, who visited the soldiers on Monday, said that the exercise was a necessary "final preparation".
      "Finland demanded that such an exercise should be held so that a spirit of cooperation could be established. Germany was issued a serious request, to which it gave a proper response", Kääriäinen said.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finns taking part in exercise for tri-nation EU battle group in Germany (6.11.2006)
  Finland interested in NATO crisis management exercises (3.11.2006)

Links:
  Battlegroups - EU fact sheet (PDF)

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