The conclusion of the Romanian Army mission in Afghanistan was marked, on Wednesday, through a military ceremony organized at the Triumphal Arch, during which detachments representing the structures that participated in this theater of operations paraded, and the area was overflown by a C 130 Hercules and a formation of three C-27J Spartan aircraft from the 90th Air Transport Base in Otopeni, Agerpres informs.
Parading under the Triumphal Arch were detachments of the Joint Forces Command, the General Staff of the Land Forces, as well as one formed by servicemen injured during missions executed in the theaters of operations.
The parade continued with detachments of the South-East Multinational Brigade, the Neagoe Basarab 26th Infantry Battalion, the 20th Infantry Battalion in Dolj, the Union of the Principalities 282nd Armor Brigade, the Calugareni 2nd Infantry Battalion, the Captain Valter Maracineanu 280th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, the Saint Andrew 300th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, the Argedava 1st Mechanized Brigade, the Captain Stefan Soverth 495th Parachute Battalion, the General Grigore Balan 81st Mechanized Brigade, the 811st Infantry Battalion in Dej, the 812th Infantry Battalion in Bistrita, and the Colonel Radu Golescu 191st Infantry Battalion.
The names of Romanian servicemen fallen in the line of combat in Afghanistan were solemnly read out and those present at the ceremony held a moment of silence in their memory.
In the 19 years of participation with military structures in the Afghanistan theater of operations, 27 Romanian servicemen lost their lives in combat actions, and over 200 were injured.
Romania participated with troops in Afghanistan since 2002, both in Operation Enduring Freedom, as well as in ISAF, in the spirit of solidarity towards the American strategic partner as well as to consolidate the national position as an allied partner, the Ministry of National Defence (MApN) shows.
In January 2002, the first batch of Romanian troops - a platoon of military police, a C 130 Hercules airship and liaison officers were deployed to Afghanistan, as part of the ISAF operation, and in July 2002 the first Romanian infantry battalion in a combat mission outside the national territory since the conclusion of World War II was deployed.
Since 2002 and up to present, over 32,000 Romanian servicemen participated in the Afghanistan mission, in six month rotations, both as part of command and control elements at the level of brigade, as well as in force structures at the battalion, company, platoon, Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) level, as well as in detachments of the Special Operations Forces, ANA (Afghan National Army) Training instructor teams, CIMIC subunits.
The missions also saw the participation of logistical support elements of the Joint Logistic Command, structures of the Communications and Informatics Command of the Romanian Naval Forces, support staff with NATO and multinational commands. The Romanian Air Forces have ensured, during two different missions the command of the Kabul International Airport (KAIA).
The missions of Romanian servicemen in the Afghanistan theater of operations were coordinated by the Joint Forces Command of the Ministry of National Defence.
In the recent period, Romania was one of the most important contributing states in the Resolute Support mission, with over 600 servicemen deployed. In the past six years, the participation in the RSM has been the main priority regarding the contribution of the Romanian army in operations outside Romanian territory.
