Baltic Barracks in Szczecin welcomed guests from the subordinate units from Poland, Germany and Denmark due to taking part in the special training programme named Cool Gasket 2005 from March 14th to 18th, 2005.
The main reason for conducting such exercise is to prepare the Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC NE) to reach the Full Operational Capability (FOC), what in simple terms means: to achieve the full readiness, good level of understanding and communication as well as multinational military cooperation.
The Cool Gasket 2005 is the part of an exercise cycle mounding into the big military exercise Compact Eagle that will be conducted in November 2005 by the Headquarters Multinational Corps Norteast. For the last few days officers from subordinated divisions have been creating a completely hypothetical crisis situation just to gain new experiences and the essential knowledge that would definitely enrich the further multinational cooperation and prepared all formations to be deployed into missions. From the civilian point of view the exercise Cool Gasket 2005 may look nothing more than just a military computer game. Instead of organizing logistically complicated outdoor exercises in the military training area, everything what may happen on the battle field appears on the computer screen. However creating the imaginary scenario will allow soldiers to become visually familiar with the written plan and enable them to find the most optimal solutions quickly during the battle.
Undoubtedly, such training programs ensure the common visualisation of the enemy and their own forces with the proper respect to the terrain and the danger. Furthermore, participants can be provided with various unpredictable circumstances during the exercise what would give them invaluable opportunity to practise various military reactions, to foreseen the enemy movements or practise the particular NATO procedures. In the end it is also a good possibility for the Corps Commander to ensure that his staff and subordinate formations are fully prepared that all actions are synchronises in time and space.
SCENARIO
As the background history for the operation Cool Gasket 2005 the officers have created a military crisis between two imaginary nations Bravolanders and Alfalanders on the Iberian Peninsula, renamed as the Cyberian Peninsula. The scenario has been set as an escalating crisis between initially BRAVOLAND and ALFALAND. Bravoland’s relations with European countries have deteriorated steadily due to her aggressive and expansionist nationalism and its military build-up since President Brando came to power. Additionaly, the Bravoland regime provides financial support to activist groups operating in Alfaland. Whereas Alfaland country have been created as a buffer zone between the two antagonist countries, Papaland and Bravoland. Moreover, the oil reserves have been discovered in Alfaland territory recently, so that the oilfields have become the issue of international concern.
The main operational intentions for engaged troops in the Cool Gasket 2005 exercise is to conduct defensive operation and to re-establish the international recognized border between Alfaland and Bravoland as soon as possible by demonstration and consequently by overwhelming use of force. The ally troops will try to enforce Bravoland to withdraw to own territory and to stop any aggression towards Alfaland. The ALLIANCE is comparable with NATO and the Non-American members of the ALLIANCE are politically organised in the European Union. All countries involved in this crisis are members of the UN United Nations.
The whole Cool Gasket training mission has been under direction of Col. R. Wagner with 160 soldiers participating in the exercise from the HQ MNC NE and from subordinated formations from Latvia, Slovakia, Estonia and France. However the main forces include: the Polish 12th Mechanized Division has been responsible for defensive operation, whereas the German and Danish Divisions have led the offensive operation in the battlefield. Each unit reflects the amount of the 20.000 soldiers on the hypothetical battle field, so approximately 100 000 soldiers have been engaged in the operation. Obviously to conduct such an operation in the reality is extremely difficult and demands a huge amount of time, manpower and especially extremely precise planning. Therefore, the most important assumption for the Cool Gasket 2005 training programme is to increase the internal operational planning capability and to learn how to cooperate and coordinate the offensive and defensive operation in the reality. The possibility to rehearse the execution of undertaken actions during the exercise provides all participants with valuable experience and knowledge for the future.
