The Army Combined Fires Exercise has begun

It has been a busy Tuesday morning at the Misi railway station as equipment from all over Finland is brought to take part in the Army Combined Fires Exercise held in Rovajärvi.

Troops from all the Army brigade-level units, the Navy and the Border Guard participate in the exercise, and with the strength of 4,000 soldiers it is the Finnish Defence Forces’ largest overall live firing and leadership exercise of this year.

On an individual level the exercise offers the conscripts and reservists a chance to test the skills which they have learned during the conscript service in practice. In addition, the comprehensive exercise carried out in a challenging environment provides an excellent setting for enhancing the international interoperability and interoperability of the Army branches.

- The Army Combined Fires Exercise is one of our most significant exercises this year. As a large exercise of many brigade-level units and Army branches it does not merely develop the skills of the conscripts but also the planning and leadership abilities of the conscript leaders and regular personnel, the Commander of the exercise, Colonel Petteri Rokka says.

While the exercise is not new, this year it involves new aspects: a detachment from Sweden’s Artillery Regiment (A9) will also participate in the exercise as part of the ongoing bilateral cooperation between the Finnish and Swedish Armies. The the aim of the bilateral cooperation in this exercise is to develop joint fire know-how and improve the interoperability of the troops.

- The participation of the Swedish detachment is important to us as it contributes also to developing our own operational capabilities. The joint training provides us with a chance to compare our techniques and practices thus giving us valuable experiences, commander of the task force phase of the exercise, Colonel Pasi Pasivirta explains.

For the conscripts this exercise is typically filled with thrill and excitement. The extensive firings require a huge amount of individual and troop level skills as well as effective cooperation. For the past five months or almost a year the conscripts have been training hard, now the live firings put all abilities to test. This motivates everyone to the best possible performance.

As the exercise trains conscripts for their war time duties, the program must be demanding enough. The challenging situations and environment stresses the importance of safety. The troop leaders need to be able to make sure that their own and their troop’s capabilities are in required level.

- The live firings are executed according to the safety measures and procedures. Thus everyone participating in the exercise need to understand, that we cannot highlight safety too much. I recommend everyone to take full advantage of the exercise, concentrate on what is done presently and not to hustle. The most important thing is to fulfil ones duties safely, Colonel Rokka reminds.

The setup for the exercise is promising and the expectations are high - everything is ready for the live firings to start tomorrow. Careful planning and motivated troops create a good ground for successful exercise.

The commanders of the exercise wish everyone an educative and rewarding exercise!