The Balearics tactical units increase their fighting power at ‘Chinchilla’

The 1st/47 Motorised Infantry Battalion ‘Filipinas’ and the HQ Sappers Unit, the most important under Balearics General Command (known by its Spanish acronym, COMGEBAL), have incorporated a wide array of elements to increase their fighting power. The aim is to be ready for multinational operations such as the one simulated at the training centre ‘Chinchilla’ (Albacete) from 9 to 21 April.

As well as practising support integration to create a Task Force which incorporates artillery, helicopters, engineers, electronic warfare, etc. (provided by other Land Force units), the exercise has furthered training with all types of weapons and explosives thanks to the large size of the Chinchilla training field and the many possibilities it offers.

The exercise also included information flow with higher- and lower-level units, inter-force training, urban warfare, information gathering techniques and interaction with civilians, combatants and insurgents.

The pace of activity was brisk both during the day and at night, and the integration in the field of capabilities external to COMGEBAL was achieved in a record time of 48 hours.

Exercise of urban warfare (Photo: COMGEBAL)

Parallel exercise

The planning and preparation of this exercise took several months, because it was necessary to organise field operations and transport all the equipment and personnel from Majorca to mainland Spain.

Such transport involved a complex maritime and land operation. Similar operations take place several times a year to neighbouring islands such as Menorca and Ibiza, but in a much smaller scale.

The Army’s transport vessel ‘Martín Posadillo’ transported some of the personnel and the nearly 80 vehicles which took part in the exercise from the port of Palma to Valencia. Once there, they went on to Albacete in several columns.

This annual exercise is also useful to the Projection Support Unit, which every year carries out its own parallel logistic exercise, dubbed ‘Mediterráneo’, based on information about the movements carried out.