North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
May 11, 2015
Exercise Puma 15 starts in Poland
EX PUMA 15
Exercise Puma-15 has started today Monday 11 May at the Drawsko Pomorskie training area, Poland and will last until May 29.
During the exercise an armoured French Task Force Group will carry out training and operational readiness activities with their Polish army counterparts with American and Canadian troops providing additional support.
The Task Force consists of 15 Leclerc main battle tanks from the 12ème Régiment de Cuirassiers, a platoon from the 16ème Bataillon de Chasseurs with four VBCI 8×8 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), and a platoon from the 13ème Régiment du Génie with three VABs and one EBG armoured engineering vehicle.
“I am glad that my soldiers and I have the possibilities to train with our Polish friends,” said Lt. Col. Henri Le Losq, Exercise Puma 15 commander. ‘This exercise ties into other successful trainings we had with the Polish and I am sure this time it will be the same.”
Exercise Puma-15 is separated into two different phases. The first one is the tactical phase, which helps to improve the interoperability between the two units. The French Leclerc tanks will train together with their Polish counterparts to get a standardized model of modern tank battle.
Phase two consists of a defensive and offensive part. The main goal of the second phase is to bring the tank to the limit to have the experience and the knowledge of the performance and capabilities in extreme situations.
Exercise Puma-15 is the culmination event of a two month long deployment by the French Task Force to provide assurance measures and interoperability training to countries in the Eastern part of the Alliance.
Story by: SHAPE Public Affairs Office.
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