Strong Lineage 2025: Czech Armed Forces and the Allies strengthening the multinational force in Slovakia

Author: by Warrant Officer Marek Waic

The Strong Lineage 2025 multinational exercise has launched in the Lešť military training area in Slovakia as part of the new NATO Force Model (NFM) which is designed to project highly available and highly ready forces to respond to any threat. It is one of the most significant exercises of the multinational brigade of which the Czech Armed Forces 6th Task Force is also a member. This way, NATO can verify the high defence readiness and clearly show the resolve to provide security on the whole of its territory.

“The key moment of the exercise is the activation of the On-Call Forces – units which are on standby in their home bases and, if needed, move to the area of deployment. Apart from the Czech mortar battery and the command support company of the 41st Mechanized Battalion which joined the deployed contingent, other coalition units from Spain, Slovenia, and Romania have also been activated,” explained Lieutenant Colonel Jiří Pazděra, commander of the Czech Armed Forces 6th Task Force in Slovakia.

The operations were logistically very demanding, especially for some states. The Spanish units, for example, completed combined movement on road and across the Mediterranean Sea to arrive in Slovakia on time and ready to take part in the exercise. Thousands of service members and hundreds of pieces of equipment have been engaged in the exercise in total.

The Czech forces designated for activation had to quickly assemble, prepare all personal equipment and weaponry and ready all materiel necessary for the performance of combat operation – from all types of ammunition over water and food supplies to spare parts and communications equipment. Some of the supplies had to be collected from depots across the whole country and then quickly transferred to bases and loaded onto vehicles.

The movement from Žatec to Lešť took two days with the route spanning over 700 km. The convoy comprised of over 40 military vehicles, 10 containers of supplies and roughly 100 service members. They made a stopover at Vyškov where they stayed overnight. The movement also served as a practical training of the units’ reaction to the notice, organisation, and mobility using own vehicles.

After their arrival, the Czech and other NATO forces were immediately deployed in the assigned areas and began their activities. In the following days, they will focus on harmonisation, increasing interoperability, and verification of readiness in real conditions.

“Czech Armed Forces deploy their forces and assets in the authority of the Joint Operations Command, which controlled the activation of the Czech unit on standby for strengthening the NATO Multinational Brigade in Slovakia. The Strong Lineage 2025 exercise proves in practise the NATO units’ ability to quickly react, move over long distances, and operate effectively under the NATO command. For Czech service members, it is another opportunity to show that they are reliable and highly professional partners,” summed up Lieutenant General Václav Vlček, commander of the Joint Operations Command.

Activation and relocation of the Czech unit assigned by the 41st Mechanized Battalion on standby for strengthening the NATO Multinational Brigade in Slovakia.

 

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