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The Babadag shooting range hosted the closing ceremony of the Saber Guardian 19 multi-national training programme, which included firing exercises using live ammunition.
The last day of the Saber Guardian training programme commenced with a commemoration ceremony dedicated to Second Lieutenant Ionel Gheorghita Dragusanu, attended by both his former colleagues and the chairman of the Constanta branch of the Regina Maria National Hero Organisation Colonel Remus Macovei.
The church service was followed by live ammunition firing exercises performed by Tulcea officials and Chief of Staff of the 2nd Getica Infantry Division, Colonel Ovidiu Conduruta.
"The 2nd Getica Infantry Division joined this multi-national exercise with 1,700 soldiers and 600 pieces of defence hardware, battle platforms (...). The exercise was preceded by several drills, so the today's exercise was a denouement for demonstrating the response capacity of the 9th Mechanized Brigade and reaching the training objectives," said Conduruta.
In turn, Commander of the 9th Mechanized Brigade, Colonel Florin Marian Barbu, said the Saber Guardian 19 exercise was designed to validate new procedures.
"Personally, I am delighted, we have reached our goal. Our soldiers are ready for their basic mission, national defense," Barbu said.
Commander of the 341st Constanta Infantry Battalion Lieutenant Colonel Ciprian Balica, praised his troops for their training.
"We can now say that we are fully interoperable with our partners and standing a chance to be nominated to participate in two annual exercises as part of the Black Sea Rotational Force so that we keep up our level of training," Balica said.
