B 00516 C 4092/08 - Revista Forţelor Terestrerft.forter.ro/sites/default/files/media/files/2015/Feb/[file:1469873460].pdfMajor General PhD Dan Ghica Radu. for both our active and

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B 00516 C 4092/08

ISSN 1842-3051

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Lieutenant-ColonelDragoº ANGHELACHE

SECRETARY OF

THE EDITORIAL STAFF

Major Adrian CURIMAN

EDITOR

1st LieutenantBogdan RÃDULESCU

DTP


PROOF READING

Cristina DONCILA

TEXT PROCESSING

Filofteia LINCA

ADMINISTRATION

NCOAdrian IUZIC

inTerneT

www.rft . forter.ro

e-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]

Cover 1

Tanker

Photo: Lieutenant-colonel Dragoº ANGHELACHE

Cover 4

Public information officerPhoto: 1st Lieutenant Bogdan RÃDULESCU

eVenTRomanian Army between

facts and results 3

Major General PhD Dan GHICA-RADU

TraininGSurvival in Rânca military

camp 12

1st Lieutenant Andreea POPESCU

translated by Ana-Maria IONICÃ

Vâlsan, the mountain

troop camp 18

1st Lieutenant Andreea POPESCU


broTher in arMsThe Romanian militaries

were honored with medals

by the US Army 30

Lieutenant-Colonel Dragoº ANGHELACHE

translated by Valerică PICIOREA

Military away from

home 32

Ciprian ANGHELUÞÃ


Supporting our brothers in

arms 34


translated by Andreea VARTOLOMEI

On the other side of the

microphone 36


translated by Nataniel TRANDAFIR

TheaTres of operaTionsA new challenge 22

Major Toni ENE


FOB Mescal 24

Captain Ciprian PANGA

translated by Nicoleta DOROª

“The Sharks" are training

Iraqi military people 26

Major Gabriel PÃTRAªCU


alMa MaTerAt the infantry

very beginning 38


translated by Valerică PICIOREA

The way to a European

school 40

Professor Mioara CÎMPAN


sporT

The military highschool

sports summer olympics 42

Leutenent-Colonel Dragoº ANGHELACHE


inTerVieWI trust the aptitude and

responsibility of the Land

Forces personnel 4

interview with Major General

PhD Dan GHICA-RADU


translated by Nataniel TRANDAFIR

flashback in land forcesSEEBRIG, a regional

instrument for

cooperation 6



Graduation exam within

Smârdan firing range 8

Major Marian RÃDULESCU


Multinational exercise

"Tisa-2009" 10

Major Mihai-Ilie RUSU

and major Dan RUJA



Contents

Mission log at Sharona

28

Captain Marius MIHAI


Romanian Land Forces

editorial

3Nr. 1 l 2010

Romanian Land Forces have the honor to be thehost of The 18th Conference of the European Armies,which is organized in partnership with USAREUR, inSibiu.

The main theme of this important activity is“Building coalitions through Multinational Training".

Multinational training is the main engine for thesoldiers from different countries to interact in almost allpoints of view: cultural, social, procedural and doctri-nal.

The capability of interfering in crises situations,the adaptability and interoperability among the soldiersfrom the European states and also the achievement ofa modern and professional army, deployable, ade-quate equipped, are the main goal for every country.

The process of transformation of each armyinvolves, also, the modernization of the training systemand multinational exercises, which are a very efficientmethod to achieve this goal.

The commitments which Romania had assumedmean, most of all, the involvement in the overseas oper-ations of which purposes are to diminish the risks andthe major threats to national and international security.

This year’s edition of The Conference of theEuropean Armies, known as CEA 2010, has a main pur-pose to identify new ways on how to train at a multina-tional level, and also encourage the attendees to shareideas and experience with each other.

Romanian Land Forces are involved in all theoverseas operations with approximately 1,600 soldiers.Romanian troops together with all the other soldiersfrom different nations conduct their missions in Iraq,Afghanistan and Balkans. Operationally and procedu-rally we are partners with all the nations who are fol-lowing the same objectives,.

With this occasion we address our best thoughtsto all the participants for the honor to accept our invita-tion of attendance. n

Major General PhD Dan GHICA-RADU

Romanian Armybetween facts and results


interview

4 Land Forces www.rft.forter.ro

I trust the aptitude andresponsibility ofthe Land Forcespersonnel

— General, after a brief period of absence, you came back in theLand Forces, but this time in charge of them. What objectives have youestablished now, at the beginning of this new road?

— I am very honored to be back with the Land Forces after somestages in which different commanders of a high professional and intellectu-al standard have left their mark. Even if we go through a more difficult peri-od, along with the entire society to which we belong, I will act, through team-work, towards achieving the planned and deliberated, in order to continuethe modernization process of the Land Forces according to the guidelinesestablished by the General Staff. The Land Forces together with the otherforce categories will maintain and develop the place and role in the presentdynamic of our army and the Alliance, basing itself on a medium and longterm realistic analysis. For this we will permanently adapt the exploit strate-gy of the human, material and financial resources, with the stress on train-ing, order, discipline, promoting value and endorsing the balanced, coher-ent constructive initiative.

I trust the quality of the command act, the aptitude and responsibili-ty of the Land Forces personnel and I am sure that, together, we will achievethe planned objectives.

— General, last year the second stage of the Romanian Army renova-tion strategy started, the phase of the full operational integration into NATOand the European Union – the 2008-2015 period. What are the implicationsfor the Land Forces this year?

— The operationalization process has the purpose of increasing thecombat capability of our structures taking into account the NATO opera-tional tactics, technology, procedures and standards. Thus, we will continuethe process of shaping, specializing and perfecting the professional training

Lieutenant-Colonel Dragoº ANGHELACHEtranslated by Nataniel TRANDAFIR

Interview with the Chief of the Land Forces Staff, Major General PhD Dan Ghica Radu

for both our active and reserve military personnel, according tothe military operational standards and professional patterns.Also, we have to improve the content of the documents con-cerned with organizing, planning, leading and controlling themilitary education, not to forget about our attention towardsimproving the methodical and specialty training of the instruc-tors in the military education institutions. In what concerns theresource distribution, the forces at NATO disposal and deploy-able forces in general have priority, but without neglecting theother structures, which have also been supplied with resources,only in a smaller amount. All these mean a plus in capabilitynot only regarding the equipment and technology of which allmilitary installations within these structures should benefit from,but also from the point of view of supplying the qualifiedhuman resource and of course ensuring its continuous training.It is very important to maintain and strengthen our trainingcredibility and capacity of common, integrated action, espe-cially within the multinational structures in order to fulfill themissions we have.

— Does the Land Forces education system cover the pro-fessional personnel training needs?

— I think, overall, it covers the training needs of theenlisted volunteers. The system was judiciously organized, andas proof the enlisted volunteers undertake all the trainingstages – whether or not they have accomplished their compul-sory military service – and after that they opt for the militarycareer. Also, we are thinking about an improvement in thedeveloping process of the young personnel. For example, start-

ing this academic year, in the Land Forces Academy, the mili-tary training of the first year students is not condensed in onemodule at the beginning of the year, but is distributed through-out it.

— General, taking into account the fact that your inter-view will be issued around the Anniversary of the Land Forces,please address a few words to our brothers in arms.

— Beyond the festive cheerful character of the celebra-tion, the Anniversary of the Land Forces represents a momentto commemorate and honor the deeds of our predecessors,and this doesn’t mean only the formal moments in which we laywreaths at different monuments. It is necessary that their sacri-fices become an impulse for us in serving our country, wherev-er we are and whatever position we may have at a certainmoment. Coming back to the present moment, I would like toemphasize that our military personnel is permanently appreci-ated by the high foreign officials for its training and profession-alism, and this comes from the point of view of a person whohas been assigned to a series of positions with a high level ofresponsibility within the operation theaters and who has hadcontacts with this kind of officials. This is why I am alwaysproud of being a part of / belonging to the most important cat-egory of force of the Romanian Army, the Land Forces. I wouldlike to add that my thoughts are with our brothers in arms whoare far from home, on international missions or in theaters ofoperation and also to congratulate the entire personnel of theLand Forces for the flawless manner in which they carry outtheir military and civilian duties. n


interview

5Nr. 1 l 2010


flashback in land forces


— This year, on the 31st of August, SEEBRIG will be cele-brating ten years of existence. How do you see the brigade'sdevelopment during this period?

— The brigade's development can be appreciated duringthese ten years within a large spectrum describable through theexpectation horizon from desire to accomplishment and it canbe considered that the accomplishments are even beyond thedesires, and thus, SEEBRIG has become a very convincingregional instrument regarding the political military cooperation

among the nations participant to the initiative. The Brigade ismuch more than it was in 1999, and the gained experience canbe understood through its consolidation and maturity, an elo-quent example, and not only, being the mission performed in theoperational theater in Afghanistan in 2006. Extremely impor-tant is now the future that the Brigade can have starting from thelevel and capabilities acquired and proven.

— Can we talk about an important role played by thebrigade in the south-east part of Europe?Which are the missions that the brigadecan perform at this date?

— I think that the best proof regard-ing the brigade's importance in the south-east part of Europe is shown by the factthat new states, and we have the exampleof Ukraine and Bosnia-Herzegovina, wantto become members with full rights orobservation members of the MultinationalForce of peace maintaining within thesouth-east part of Europe. The brigade'smissions are focused mainly on peacemaintaining operations, as we have previ-ously mentioned, the brigade’s command-ment was deployed to Afghanistan in2006 and this proves the deploymentcapabilities, even outside the responsibili-ty area understood in the south-east partof Europe, but as a secondary mission,SEEBRIG is and will be focused also onoperations of assistance when natural andartificial disasters, especially on the terri-tory of member states. It is an actual prob-

Lieutenant-Colonel Dragoº ANGHELACHEtranslated by Ana-Maria IONICÃ

SEEBRIG, a regional instrument for cooperationInterview with the commander of the South-East EuropeanBrigade, PhD Brigadier General Virgil BÃLÃCEANU



7Nr. 1 l 2010

lem and the international seminar that we organized inMay had as objective precisely this problem. I person-ally declare myself very satisfied with the level of cohe-sion and training of the commandment, if we also takeinto account the result evaluation of the "SEVEN STARS2008" exercise. The exercise emphasized not only theskills when working at land forces level according toNATO standards, but also deployment capabilities,especially regarding the use of professional communi-cation and IT systems, such as the communication viasatellite and the leap frequency short wave radioposts. Of course that there are projects regarding capa-bility improvement and I hope that the "SEVEN STARS2010" exercise, if carried out as we are presently think-ing, will confirm the new capabilities. And we should notforget that the land forces commandment was alsoinvolved in the exclusively military analysis of two pos-sible missions for the brigade, which allowed our self-assessment, and represented a "sum" of identified lessons suchas: Kabul mission, "SEVEN STARS" exercise, and the analysis ofthe two missions.

— Of course that every state has contributed to thebrigade's development and welfare. How has our country con-tributed in this direction?

— Our country's contribution can be best expressed by theappreciations that "the hardened veterans", that is the SEEBRIG personnel of the brigade's commandment from 2007,had for Romania the period when the commandment wasdeployed to Constanta. I felt that the appreciations came from theheart, making me proud of what we, the Romanians, can prove asmilitary and as host-nation. But beyond the affective aspects, thatshould never be forgotten, we should emphasize Romania's con-tribution to SEEBRIG as part of the ideal SEEBRIG had when it had been founded and which turned intoreality, meaning the deployment of the brigade's commandmentwithin an operational theater. Not only during the period whenRomania had the presidency of the Political-military DirectorBoard and also of the meetings of the Defense Ministers in thesouth-east part of Europe between 2001-2003, but also duringthe instruction time of the mission, Romania held an essential roledue to its position as host-nation, to the availability of the twoassisting components, the transmission and land forces companyand the training process for deployment, the performing of themission and commandment redeployment. For SEEBRIG, Romaniais the nation that believes in and supports its cause, because evenafter the mission's performance, the decisions made by theNational Defense Ministry and by the Land Forces Chief reflectthe special attention offered to SEEBRIG by Romania."

— You are the first Romanian commanding the brigade.What does it mean to run a multinational organization such asSEEBRIG?

— I am sure that everyone feels a real challenge whenworking in a multinational environment, because they presentnot only themselves, but also the nation they belong to. After all,the leading principles and methods are the same, gainedthrough the education, training and experience that we haveacquired as Romanian military and it is my duty of honor tothank all my trainers and commanders who have instructed me

and assigned me with such a mission. There is also a differentchallenge, that you don't encounter by commanding nationalstructures, and that is the multicultural challenge whichundoubtly enriches you and offers a great feeling of interior sa -tisfaction."

— This summer you are going to pass on the brigade'scommand. What has this experience meant for you?

— A life deep professional experience, a sum of my workduring the command of two national brigades, as I am nowapproaching the end of the third challenge - an internationalbrigade. I have learnt a lot and, if I may add, I have also offeredmuch advice, this is for my colleagues and subordinates to say."

— General, you are one of the commanders who havealways known how to correct and open relation with the media,whether civilian or military. Considering the fact that this inter-view will be printed around Military Press Day, we are askingyou to tell us how you see the role of this institution within themilitary system?

— Thank you for your appreciation and I would like toquote as an idea and not word by word what a participant tothe seminar organized by SEEBRIG in May said about assis-tance to artificial and natural disasters, previously reminded,considered justified: that besides the three pillars of power with-in a state - the legislative, the executive and the juridical one -we should also take into account the fourth one - MEDIA. I canonly congratulate you and wish "Happy birthday!" to the mili-tary press! Also, if it is not too much, I would also like to suggesta few ways to improve its role. And I would like to refer here tothe consonance with the institution's problems, without forget-ting its people; justified assessment of the actual status and thus,the informing of the military audience for acknowledgement andguidance; avoiding the clichés, the stereotypes and the patterns.Being as an echo, a mirror of the military institution that showsus just as we are, even with our flaws, the military press can havean advantage to the civilian one as it is, if you want, the expres-sion of our feelings as military and humans.

In the end, I would like to remind just how important myfamily has been within the SEEBRIG family and how importanthave been my Romanian colleagues from SEEBRIG regardingconsolidation of the Romanian Army’s professionalism. n



Major Marian RÃDULESCUtranslated by Nicoleta DOROª

Graduation examwithin Smârdanfiring range

Within Smârdan firingrange in GalaþiCounty, the students

in “Mihai Viteazul"

Application School for CombatUnits carried out tactical live fireexercises.

During December 4-12 thisyear, more than 150 student offi-


cers in “Mihai Viteazul" ApplicationSchool for Combat Units will partici-pate in the training camp atSmârdan firing range in GalaþiCounty, in order to take their gradu-ation exams of officer training cours-es – indirect branch – and of basicofficer courses within the trainingcenters subordinated to the school inPitesti.

The training program consistsof carrying out firing sessions, tacti-cal live fire exercises with the crewand platoon, tactical field trainingexercises with the crew, platoon,company, combat vehicle drivingexercises, according to NATO con-

cepts about training.The aim of the activities is to

develop the students’ ability to ana-lyze, estimate and decide while per-forming the current operations in realbattlefield conditions; to improve theskills of organizing training and lead-ing platoon in battle; to assess thestudents’ proficiency at the end of thecourses so that to execute the dutiesof a platoon commander.

In the same time, it is beingconsidered to amend the headquar-ters’ aptitude for organizing, per-forming, leading and assessing theeducation and instruction activities inaccordance with NATO military stan-

dards, in terms of training and lead-ing military operations at tacticallevel.

Students from Armour,Engineers, Infantry, MountainTroops, Reconnaissance as well assenior staff, subunit commanders andinstructors from the school and fromthe training centers take part in theexercises.

On December 8, 2008 de -monstrative combat firing sessionstook place with weapons from theexisting combat technique, also tacti-cal live fire exercises were carried outby the students in Tank and VehicleTraining center in Pitesti.n

9Nr. 1 l 2010





Multinationalexercise "Tisa-2009"


Major Mihai-Ilie RUSU and major Dan RUJAtranslated by Ana-Maria IONICÃ

Multinational exercise “Tisa-2009" was heldbetween 12-15 of May, in Novi Sad, Serbia,within the barracks of the Serbian Army River

Flotilla. The barracks of the Flotilla also represented the placewhere the opening ceremony took place and it was led by L7Serbian Land Forces Chief, Colonel Zvonco Stolovic, where allthe members of the Serbian, Romanian and Hungarian militarydeputations gathered.

The exercise consisted of a commandment componentand a practical demonstration regarding the intervention pos-sibilities of the engineers during flooding periods. The theme ofthe exercise and the incidents that the participants had to han-dle were developed based on a real situation from 2006, dur-ing the period when the Serbian Basin of the Tisa River wasflooded.

On the 14th of May, on the occasion of the DistinguishedVisitors’ Day, a demonstrative exercise was presented by theengineers of the Serbian Army River Flotilla. There were manymilitary attaches from Serbia that took part in the activity andalso official personalities such as: The Land Forces Chief of theSerbian Army, General Lieutenant Miloje Miletie; The Land

Forces Chief of the Hungarian Army, General Laszlo Tombol;The Land Forces Chief of the Romanian Army, Major GeneralDan Ghica-Radu. The demonstrative exercise was carried outat the confluence of Tisa and Bega rivers, in Titel town and itconsisted of two parts.

The dynamic part focused on the missions that can beperformed by the engineers of the Serbian army and on theequipment that they had during the innervations meant todiminish the flood effects. The exercise was followed by all par-ticipants from the board of KOZARA protocol ship and itreferred to all the missions that can be performed by the engi-neers of the Serbian Army River Flotilla: mine sweeping activi-ty; victim salvation/evacuation, techniques and materials;bridge crossing and deck assembly; pier and roads building(rebuilding); flooded area draining. The demonstrative exercisealso involved the local authorities from Titel and the SerbianRed Cross.

The static part–involved the exhibition of the technicaldevices that can be found at the Serbian Army River Flotillapreviously presented and the main equipments shown were:underwater detections by means of sonar, pneumatic ships,



11Nr. 1 l 2010

propeller, amphibious carriers for tech-nique and equipment, equipments usedin order to realize the crossing pointson bridges, technique used for roadbuilding.

At the end of the exercise, thepersonalities that were present theremade some declarations for the Serbiannewspapers. The Land Forces Chief ofthe Serbian Army, Lieutenant GeneralMiloje Miletie, underlined that the exer-cise implied participation of more than300 military and representatives ofVojvodina Independent Province, ofSerbian Red Cross and of Titel town. Healso added that, according to thedefense and security documents, the

army had the mission to take part to thecollective effort of preventing and elimi-nating all means of threats, including thenatural ones. General Miletie alsoadded that “this exercise was a goodopportunity, including for the colleaguesin Hungary and Romania, in order tocheck training of those three armies soas to carry out the strategic missions.2009 Tisa Exercise represented a part ofthe mutual and coordinated activities ofthe three armies in order to take action inthe case of the danger presented byfloods".

The Land Forces Chief of theHungarian Army, General LaszloTombol, declared that the engineer mili-

tary units of the three armies had hadcooperative relations for many years. Healso added that the floods in 2006 hadconfirmed the necessity of a quick andcommon reaction of the authorities ofthe three countries. Next, he thanked theSerbian military and the other partici-pants to the exercise for the training andprofessionalism that they had hadshown.

The Land Forces Chief of theRomanian Army, PhD Major-GeneralGhica Radu declared: “The three coun-tries have similar problems and it is ne -cessary that their armed forces contributeto building improving the reliability withinthese common military exercises". n


Training

Survival in Rânca military camp1st Lieutenant Andreea POPESCUtranslated by Ana-Maria IONICÃ

Atthe beginning of May, a reece pla-toon belonging to the 20 InfantryBattalion “The Black Scorpions"

from Craiova was deployed to Ranca military camp andbetween the 4th and 8th of May, they had an instructionexercise in the forests of Parang Mountains.

Last week there was a real survival test at Rancamilitary camp for the military in Craiova. The weatherwas moody, it drizzled every day and the temeraturewas extremely low at the altitude of 1,650 m in Ranca.

The military camp is – for those courage enoughto walk through the difficult road to Ranca – a real sur-vival test. Some days the electricity is cut off, there ishardly any heat in the cold rooms of the cabin, warmwater is only in the kettle on the stove, but for thescouts, the difficult conditions mean real instruction.

The reece platoon made up of 14 military and ledby 2nd Lieutenant Ciprian Tudor exercised, in the moun-tain camp, living under isolating conditions, survival andfield applications: ambush, specialty tactics, topogra-phy lessons and joint activities with the local mountainrescuers.

It is well-known that the military belonging to the20 Infantry Battalion have carried out


13Nr. 1 l 2010

missions in the opera-tion theaters and that“The Black Scorpions"are experienced sol-diers. It is the experi-ence of his subordi-nates that the platooncommander relied on,that is 2nd LieutenantCiprian Tudor, whograduated The LandForces Academy in2008. He presentedhimself at the 20Infantry Battalion twoweeks before the begin-ning of the mountaincamp and he tookunder his order thereece platoon, theinstruction books andhe received and gaveorders as a platooncommander. 2nd Lieu -tenant Tudor confessedthat “it was better as asubordinate, I just wait-ed to receive ordersand carried them out.Now it’s more difficultbecause it’s me who hasto give orders. I don’tknow how to talk toevery person in the pla-toon as some are olderthan me and during theschool period I wastaught to respect every-thing especially as allthe others were superi-or to me." He chose tofollow the reece spe-cialty because therehad been some vacant posts andthe place of the assignment wascloser to home, that is Pitesti. Thefears regarding his military careermake him hope to become at least amajor, the same rank that his fatherhad when he retired.

2nd Lieutenant Tudor relies onhis people. He knows that they haveexperience and for the time beinghe is learning from them. I askedhim if the present reality resembled

his dreams from school. His answerwas a predictible one: “He that reck-ons without his host, must reckonagain", but he is still enthusiasticand he feels good, anyway “I’m stillin school because I have a lot tolearn and the camp is a goodopportunity to get to know my pla-toon", 2nd lietenant also added.

Staff sergeant Valericã Pãtrais the reliable man of the platooncommander and sergeant Vladu

Iancu and corporals Teodor Samfiraand Marius Bãluþã are just a few ofthe experienced military personswho know very well their job asscouts. They set up three types ofshelters: conical one, under a fallentree, at the trunk of a tree, onemade up of branches; five types offire: grill, inclined, outlaw-like, formuddy ground, burried. Theirtrainees were the volunteers IonuþNicolae and Teodor Tare, the first

having been a military for a few months, and the latterhaving just been assigned some short time ago to

Craiova garrison. Everybody told me that they got along very

well with their commander and they hoped he wouldremain in the platoon for a longer period of time,because the others before him had been quickly pro-moted from this position because “the reece platoon

is a launching opportunity".The relationship between the military scouts and

Rânca mountain rescue unit is an old and lasting onethat started a few years ago when they had somejoint actions during the winter period when the dan-ger was higher. Ever since they have kept in touchand in every season, whether winter or summer, theyhave had joint actions. In this camp, in May, the mil-itary from Craiova cooperated with Carlos Taºcãu,the representative of the mountain rescue unit inGorj that operates within Parâng-Rânca area withmountain rescue actions. They shared andexchanged knowledge and the military scoutsshowed some survival techniques and the mountainrescuer Carlos Taºcãu presented types of safetyknots, a very simple but efficient assurance that isresistent to great weight and can be realised by asingle person. Also, the military and the mountainrescuer performed transportation of a wounded per-son in a accidental area. n



Training

Foto: Plt.adj. Cristian SURUGIU

15Nr. 1 l 2010

Vâlsan, the moun tain troop camp

Photo: NCO Cristian SURUGIU

Vâlsan, the moun tain troop camp

Between the 4th and 13th of February, the mili-tary of the Posada Mountain Troop 33 Battalionof Curtea de Arges organized a mountaininstruction camp in the Valsan area.

Atthe end of Bradetu village, wherecivilization stops and the mountainbegins, the road gets narrow and

winds along Valsan River towards the heart ofFãgãraº Mountains. And when you get benumbedbecause of the cold and thick air, the glade of Valsanvalley is visible and also are the military cabinswhose chimneys are smoking waiting for the militarygone to instruction.

Connection with exterior is kept only throughFalcon radio station and the two mountain troopcampaigns and a reconnaissance platoon carryingout missions within the areas neighboring the campcommunicate through portable radio stations.

For the approximately 140 military deployedto Valsan, the days spent in the camp pass veryquickly due to the huge amount of knowledge thatneeds to be assimilated by the end of the assessmentperiod, when everyone is supposed to get the neces-sary qualification. The missions that need to be car-ried out during the camp instruction are well-known

by the mountain troops in Arges; many carried themout in the operation theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan.Captain Ciprian Cãlþosu, the commander of Secondcompaign Mountain Troop, says about his subordi-nates that “they performed very well, you can see thegroup cohesion as we have been working togethersince 2003. I trust to go with them on any mission."

The two mountain troop compaigns and thereconnaissance platoon deployed to Vâlsan are inthe camp just during the meals and resting times,because they spend the rest of their time carrying outmissions in the neighbouring areas and in the firingrange. I have noticed the mountain troops during anFTX platoon exercise, more exactly, defending anassistance point. The complexity of the missioninvolved 110 military and four armoured personnelcarriers (APCs). Captain Ciprian Cãlþosu coordinat-ed his men observing their every move, in order tocorrect their mistakes. At the second company, thecaptain has under his order 10 volunteer ranked sol-diers that have been in the army for only a few

Vâlsan, the mountaintroop camp



Training

1st Lieutenant Andreea POPESCUtranslated by Ana-Maria IONICÃ


Training


months, but based on the training inthe camp, they gain experience forthe foreign missions that will beassigned to the battalion.

Private Constantin Diþã isamong one of those who have cho-sen the career as a volunteer soldierfor a few months and he sustains hischoice with the certainty of the work-ing place offered by the army andthe hope to make a career. “I want toget as high as possible, to becomean officer", he says. The degree fromthe Faculty of Finance, that he has,justifies his desire to become an offi-cer, for the time being, privateConstantin Diþã is servant 1 at 82mm mortar. His platoon colleague,private Rãzvan Lupu, is servant 3 atAG9, practised football fot 10 yearsbut when he realised that the degreegot from the Sport and PhisicalTraining National Academy didn’thelp him get a job, he decided to

choose the army. The reconnaissance platoon

commanded by captain Ion Udroiuperforms in an area close to thecamp, carrying out reconnaissancemissions and living under isolatingconditions. In order to accomplishthe mission objective, they first chosea department and after that theyassured its safety. They organizedseveral observation posts hidden inthe field and after that they movedon to working in a department, cre-ating several improvised means forcooking, heating , clothes dryingand water-filtering. They built impro-vised shelters, they set up the moun-taineer’s tent and put traps for ani-mals.

Staff Sergeant Dumitru Dogarupresented us a series of disposals forcooking, heating and drying that arespecific to scouts: wooden block,metal box, the outlaw model (the

best firing method for food prepar-ing, light and clothes drying), thedam model, slope fire model withself-feeder, cross or star model, grillmodel. These fire types are used inisolated missions, for reconnaissanceand enemy observation, and theyare set up in establishments fromwhere teams start searching thearea.

Staff Sergeant Paul Constan -tinescu, responsible with setting theimprovised shelters for the personnelresting time, has presented us theshelter with one ground sheet, twoground sheets, from a fallen firbranch etc.

Private Rãzvan Florin, respon-sible with setting the traps for ani-mals, installed on the pathway withthe help of his colleagues a counter-weight trap for animals, a stake trapfor animals and a trap for small ani-mals climbing the trees. n

21Nr. 1 l 2010


Training


Theatre areas of operations

A new challenge


Major Toni ENEtranslated by Andreea VARTOLOMEI

Starting with 2007, Romania has hadappointed a general within MultinationalIraq Force. This position was filled, in turns,

by the following generals: Dan Ghica Radu, VisarionNeagoe, Gabriel Gabor, Mihai Chiriþã. Presently,

brigadier general Cãtãlin Tomescuhas been appointed on this

position.After a career

in which he has pur-sued step by step themilitary hierarchy up

to brigade level,brigadier generalCãtãlin Tomescu, the

commander in chiefof the 282nd

Infantry Brigade“The Union of

Principates", has been assigned, starting with December10th 2008, the national senior representative ofRomania function within Iraq coalition.

For six months, the Romanian general, secondedby two staff officers, will carry out this mission within theHeadquarters, filling the position of the DeputyCoalition Director for Strategies, Planning andAssessment.

— General, what does this new mission mean to you?— First, it signifies the peak of our work up to the

present. The challenge to work at a such level, side byside with the representatives of the multinational force,was accepted without hesitation. Before going on thismission, I had a certain perception on the military phe-nomenon within the Iraqi operation theatres, but onarriving here I have noticed that there are elementswhich you cannot anticipate until you face reality. I mustunderline that I have benefited and I benefit special cir-cumstances – the period along which I perform myduties being marked by unique events within this the-atre. Most certainly, my mission in Iraq will be a refer-ence point in my career and the experience I will haveachieved here will significantly influence the way themilitary phenomenon is approached in the future."

— You were in Baghdad during the negotiationsheld to establish the status quo of Romanian troops

Interview with the Romanian senior representative withinIraq coalition, brigadier general Cãtãlin Tomescu



23Nr. 1 l 2010

after December 31st 2008. Whatdid these negotiations consist of?

— Probably when this article isprinted, the negotiations will havebeen concluded. These negotia-tions have been held in order toensure the legal base of theRomanian – Iraqi bilateral relations,regarding the continuity ofRomanian troops’ presence on theterritory of this country, and defin-ing the missions which our forcesare to carry out. I would like tounderline that it was an uniqueexperience, and the governmentlevel constituted team was anexceptional one, both regarding itsstructure and its competence, andconsequently the memorandum wasfinalized in a relatively short time. Iam honored to have met these peo-ple, and I confess that, for as longas we were together, I had the pos-sibility of learning many specificthings to this kind of activity.

— General, can you makeassumptions regarding the situationin Iraq in the near future – and I’mreferring to the new types of mis-sions which the Romanian battalionwill carry out?

— Essentially, the missions willnot change, they are just actual-ized. Thus, the priority will be themissions to train, support and coun-sel the Iraqi Army as well as thehumanitarian and reconstructionones, actions through which thecoalition finances local develop-ment projects, ranging from infra-structure works to help starting newbusiness. Both our medical teamswill continue to work with theAmerican military in special medicalclinics, providing medical assistancefor those in need. I hope that alsothe activity of the Romanian staffofficers, although it is not easy to beobserved compared to bilateraldirect activities, will not remainunnoticed. I estimate that our mili-tary will successfully rise up to thepresent requirements. Let us not for-

get that we also had undergone apartnership program with NATObefore becoming members of thisorganization and we have a vastwork experience within multination-al frame at all structures level. Thisexperience will help us accomplishour common missions with theyoung Iraqi Army under the best cir-cumstances

— How important are thehumanitarian missions and how dothey influence the safety in the oper-ation area or the Romanian militarysafety?

— The Romanian militarycooperation with the locals is veryimportant, because, as they say,ensures the peace in the area. Ourbattalion has a relatively wideresponsibility area of 1,400 squarekilometers. There are three impor-tant Shia tribes in the region: al-Badur, al-Husseinat and al-Ghizzye. Romanian military havefacilitated civilian rebuilding proj-ects on the territory of these tribes.All Romanian military have offeredhelp to the locals, actions of thiskind having been performed duringthe last six months. It is natural thatthis type of activities, by which thecivilian population becomes thebeneficiary of some utilities destinedto improve the living standard,diminish and eliminate hostile reac-tions.

The locals within theRomanian operation area don’thave bad intentions towards us,they are quite friendly, and the factthat we patrol the area of responsi-bility ensures a safety climate forthem. We have also undergonetough times and I think we canunderstand the community’s neces-sity of calm and safety, a communi-ty that was damaged by the warand that is now trying to take thefirst steps to regain its own identity,to obtain a climate of safety andwelfare to which they are entitled byhuman and material resources.

The friendly behavior of ourmilitary contributes to the creationof a calm environment, but theymust remain resolute and alertwhile carrying out any kind of mis-sion. The procedures specific toforce protection must be consid-ered and followed, even when tak-ing part in the humanitarian aid dis-patch. Our military people lives arefar too important to be lost to care-lessness. There are still hostile ele-ments that make us aware of theirpresence on the Iraqi territory, andmust take all safety measures inorder not to become victims of theiractions. In my opinion, the missionends when they are in the planewhich takes them to Constanta, andthey cannot be caught off-guarduntil then.

— General, everyday you con-tact coalition military; what is theirperception on Romanian military?

— From the beginning of thismission Romania has been and stillis a reliable partner within the Iraqcoalition, situation repeatedly high-lighted by the American allies.General David Petreus, Chief ofCentral American Commandmentfor Iraq and Afghanistan, who tookpart at the end of the year in aninformal meeting with the military onTallil base, said:

— I don’t want to sound rhetor-ical, but I’m very proud of the contri-bution of Romanian military to set asafety and stability climate withinthe operation area", and I thinkthese words comprise all. The invita-tion sent to our country by the Iraqistate, to perform missions inside thelimited coalition, proves that theprofessionalism and the workingmethod of Romanian military wasalso accepted by the new leaders inBaghdad. Personally, during themeetings with the Iraqi military lead-ers, I was thanked on their behalf forthe flawless manner in which our mil-itary have fulfilled their specificassignments." n



FOB Mescal


Captain Ciprian PANGAtranslated by Nicoleta DOROª

Short after the beginning of the mission, the battal-ion commander together with the American part-ners and RCS commander decided to set up a new

FOB in Tarnak Wa Jaldak.In Tarnak Wa Jaldak district, the number of the incidents

generated by the rebels was very high; the local population didnot feel protected by the coalition forces thus nobody trustedthe military. 1st Company quickly took over the missions in thedistrict and one of the main objectives was to gain local popu-lation’s confidence. It might appear strange to you that in sucha confrontation with the insurgents whose purpose was to attackand cause damages to the coalition forces, one of our missions

was to grow on the natives, but they did have an important rolein the actions. The biggest problem of the area was the fact thatinsurgents’ main infiltration and exfiltration routes crossed thedistrict, and the distance between the base where Romanian sol-diers were and the dangerous area was very long, which limitedtheir actions due to the long reaction time in case of an incident.This was how FOB Mescal was born.

Why Mescal?Once the Black Vipers arrived on Lagman base in Zabul

province we met Maj. Mescal, the Temporary Command andControl Team’s operation second-in-command, a thin,medium-height guy, with an outstanding professionaltraining, who was in charge of the operations thatwere being performed in Zabul province by theAmerican and Romanian soldiers. During the conver-sations, the Black Vipers commander underlined thatsetting up this FOB in Tarnak Wa Jaldak district wasconsidered necessary. As soon as the technicaldetails were established, it was required that a recon-naissance mission be carried out, and on January 9,2009 it was settled that soldiers from the 21st

Maneuver Battalion together with Maj. Mescal go tothe respective zone, with an American patrol team.On the way from FOB Lagman to Tarnak Wa Jaldak,the vehicle in which Maj. Brian Mescal was, passedover an explosive device, Maj. Mescal losing his life.To commemorate the AMERICAN SOLDIER who sac-rificed his life in order that the Afghan people livetheir life in peace, it was decided that the name of thenew FOB be Mescal.

Not long was it until the works were to begin,so we supplied all the materials necessary for the firstpart of the project. The help we got from the coalitionpartners was really useful as in no time they managedto bring the most part of the needed materials for thenew FOB on the base.



Nr. 1 l 2010

After performing reconnaissancemissions and establishing contacts withthe coalition partners, on April 21st, themilitary from 1st Company moved to thespecified location and went on to organ-ize the new FOB.

1st Company patrols reached thelocation of the new FOB and startedplanning the beginning of the works.Some of the military were responsiblewith the protection plans, and the othersgot to work. The first thing to be done wasassembling the now famous HESCOaround the base to protect against insur-gents’ attacks and to assure physicalsafety of the personnel in charge of build-ing the FOB. In one day the Romanianmilitary placed the hesco around thebase and put up several tents intendedfor relaxation. At night some military rest-ed while being protected by their col-leagues – an absolutely normal measureon an operation theatre, especially wherethreats are something ordinary. All theworks for this new FOB took place in suchconditions. It was extremely difficultbecause while the Black Vipers werebeing stationed at the new FOB the resttime was very short, the living conditionswere poor, but with a strong will and astrict program organization the new FBObecame real.

Nevertheless, meritorious are allthe military who contributed to the con-struction of this base, no matter if they

worked day after day under the torridAfghan sun, or if they escorted the con-voys with materials, or if they assured theprotection.

Life on a forward baseSoon, FOB MESCAL looked like a

permanent base, from where the coalitionmilitary could perform their missions inTarnak Wa Jaldak district, but this did notplease the ones on the other side of thebarricades, that is, the insurgents whowere aware of the fact that the BlackVipers and the coalition military from thisnew FOB confound them. I mentionedthat because one ofthe many freezingnights the BlackVipers spent in FOBMESCAL, they we -re attacked by agroup of about 20insurgents, with AG7 and light infantryweaponry. It mayseem like a moviescene, but thatnight, at the soundof the first gunshotand of the rebels’well-known battlecall ALAHU AKBAR(Allah is great),without hesitating

all military on the base did what theybest knew: grabbed the weapons held atan arm’s length and fought back. TheBlack Vipers’ firepower made the insur-gents withdraw without giving up thefight, though. The firefight lasted forabout two hours. Realizing that they willnot be victorious with such attacks, theinsurgents went on to set up improvisedexplosive devices, but this plan was alsosabotaged by the Black Vipers, who dis-covered them during the patrol missions,the American EOD team detonatingthem later.

There was peace around FOBlater, so the battalion’s military priesttogether with several military built ashrine and blessed it the same momentwhen FOB MESCAL was inaugurated.Col. Gheorghe Vãtãmanu-Coanta – theTemporary Command and ControlTeam’s commander, LTC Florin Stan – 21st

Maneouver Battalion’s commander, andlast but not least, Maj. Gregory Canata –Maj. Mescal’s successor, the TemporaryCommand and Control Team’s operationsecond-in-command participated in theopening activities.

One thing is certain: what theBlack Vipers have built in Tarnak WaJaldak district represents a big impedi-ment in the insurgents’ actions, but in thesame time it is a huge responsibility for 1st

Company Black Vipers who, until theirassignment ends, will have to maintainthe natives’ confidence in the coalitionforces, by performing some of the mostdifficult missions that Romanian militaryhave in Afghanistan: patrolling mission tocatch and neutralize insurgents’ in TarnakWa Jaldak district. n



“The Sharks" are training Iraqimilitary peopleMajor Gabriel PÃTRAªCUtranslated by Andreea VARTOLOMEI

St a r t i n gwith the30th of

October, “The WhiteSharks" Battalion hasstarted training Iraqimilitary that are part ofthe 10 Iraqi Division bat-talion, carrying out thepre-given tasks at thesame time.

The military train-ing will be part of a 10week module on infan -try and artillery. There isa various range of activ-ities based on engi-neered, medical andtactical training, militaryphysical training, firingrange practice, NBCtraining and attendingto an English languagecourse. At the end of thetraining module theIraqi military will take atest for checking theaccomplished level.

“The White Sharks"Commander, LTC PhDVasile Vreme said: “We

are honored to beinvolved in the training

of theI r a q im i l i -t a r yand If u l l yt r u s tthe sol-d i e r s ’profes-sional-i s mw h ow i l lp l a yt h einstruc-t o r s ’part. Itwill bea chal-l e n g -i n gperiod

and we have to handle it responsibly."Lieutenant Colonel Thafear Habeab, Commander

of the Iraqi battalion, who will be trained by the military


from Constanþa, said: “Working with theRomanian military means a lot to us. Wehave the chance to learn from their experi-ence in the operation theatres in WestBalkans and Afghanistan. I’m convinced thatthere will be a successful cooperation whichwill set solid the relationships between Iraqiand Romanian military." n

27Nr. 1 l 2010



Mission log at Sharona


Captain Marius MIHAItranslated by Nicoleta DOROª

Mycell phone ring makes me start... Ireach my hand to get it, and throughmy eyelashes, on the luminous displayI can see 03.30. I’m trying to remem-

ber, my brain goes on and the information gets together in mymind: escort mission ... at Jacop ... 15 km... gunner...

Other three alarms start almost immediately and in fiveminutes we, all Romanians from ETT SHARONA, meet at thewashroom. Our morning schedule gets “thinner" compared tothe one in a normal day and in ten minutes we start to getdressed. One by one, equipped for the battle, we leave thebarracks and head for our Cougars. Today, CPT SorinCiobanu will show his gunner “talents" in a competition with

the undersigned; CPT Bogdan Irimia will be the guy in back,and master sergeant Costin Mititelu will be behind the wheel,as usual.

Today’s mission: escort for a convoy consisting ofengineering equipment and material containers. Destination:Jacop, somewhere 15 km away from us, where a new forwardoperations base will be built. The US ETT chief, Maj. Murphygives the last details of the marching orders and we leave forour positions. I climb up in the turret, check the position of themortar, the machine gun and the electrical system of the tur-ret. I put on the radio headphones and I report that I amready. Sorin shows me from the other Cougar turret thateverything is O.K., and Mititelu greets me with the headlights.It is 04.30 a.m. (02.00 in Romania), the Afghan sky is full of

stars, the thermometer points to -3oCand off we go to the main gate of thepost. We stay here for about 15 min-utes until we interpose the RangerFords between us which are full ofAfghan soldiers and trailers with engi-neering equipment. We load theweapons, ensure and start for PRTSharona. The road is deserted, wemove fast and we connect with the sec-ond convoy that is waiting for us andwhich is formed of rack body trucks fullof material containers. A new convoyorganization takes place, the watchshows 05.40 and the long column ofcars gets going.

We have moved pretty easily onthe main road, but now we are gettingto a stony back road full of potholes.The initial comfort has vanished,Cougar’s suspensions, though rigidcompared to Humve’s, make you swingevery direction on the off road. It’s stilldark and the convoy creeps slowly, likea giant snake, along the high clay walls

erected next to the road, beyond which theAfghan dwellings lie. One sometimes has thefeeling that he is inside the famous Posada. Theroad winds in the Afghan desert sprinkled withstones, sand and withered plants reminding ofour country thistles except lower and round. Wescan the observation and firing area through ournight vision goggles and we wish for keeping theweapons untouched on this mission. The coyoteshowl in the distance and the scarlet sunrisesfrom behind the mountain spine.

That was the easiest part; the followingrough road section gives the driversheadaches... as it is sprinkled with depressionsas a result of detonating explosive devices.What is worse is that some of them are actually“seeded" forcing us to a detour. Some upsidedown trucks and containers, long ago torchedby the “bad boys" complete the “landscape". Itis getting lighter; we are relieved as we havebetter visibility.

We arrived. I cannot believe my eyes...15 kilometers in three hours! We secure the areaand ANA soldiers from Engineers get busy. Oneby one, the excavators, bulldozers and the otherequipment and containers are unloaded fromthe trailers and trucks. Soon, the area becomesa real building site.

Evening seems so far away for us - theescort crew. We replace our American Bravocompany partners and then we put up our tents.The engineers improvise a night camp, the sen-tries take their positions and all we have to do isto populate our tents. But because there is stilltime till the sun sets completely, we and the

American comrades share stories, lingeringaround an anemic fire, kept on by desert teaselsand food packages.

Coldness pushes us into the tents andsleeping bags. It’s early to slumber; there areabout eleven hours of “sleep" till six o’clock a.m.tomorrow morning. I try to fall asleep but I amnot successful... I am counting the sheep but thecoyotes’ yowls scatter them. I can hear Sorinperform muster call and it seems that all of uswill be on guard in the first shift.

Later less and less voices report to thecall. Mititelu is the first “victim", then Bogdan,next I or Sorin, I am not sure...

The cell phone alarm finds me awake. Ican feel the cold air in the tent and all my jointsare numb. That’s for sure, these camping trips dono longer agree with me. When I was in mytwenties was a different story. I try to stand mysleeping bag for two eternal hours then I get out.Sorin is faster, he has already lit his cigarette.He moves the flashlight over the tents. They arecompletely covered by a thin layer of ice.Mititelu appears, too, with puffy and tired eyes,together with Bogdan, but not in the mood fortalking. It is too early in the morning.

The sun rises from behind the mountainsand we try to chase away the chilliness with afew warm up exercises. We can hardly make itso we pack the equipment, get in the cars and incolumns we set off to Sharona. I hear Mititelu inmy mind encouraging us just like that in themorning: for those 91, respectively 71 Euros aday we, we must endure a little coldness... in thewinter. n


brothers in arms

The Romanianmilitaries werehonored withmedals by the USA Army


Lieutenant-Colonel Dragoº ANGHELACHEtranslated by Valericã PICIOREA

Twenty seven Romanian militaries, who assertedthemselves through bravery in the missions’accomplishment in the theatre of operations in

Iraqi, were honored with medals by the Ambassador of theUnited States of America, his Excellency Mark Gitenstein onFriday 26th of March.

At the ceremony, also participate along with the

Ambassador of the United States of America, his ExcellencyMark Gitenstein, the State Secretary of Defense for Operationsand Training, Major General Valeriu Nicuþ, and the Deputy ofthe Chief of the Major General Staff, Major General PhD DanGhica-Radu.

To the colonel (ret.) Valentin Nistor was conferred thehighest American decoration - "Bronze Star Medal", three mili-taries were honored with the medal "Merituous Service", and

some other three the decora-tion "Army Commemo ra -tion".

After the decorationsand medals handing over tothe Romanian militaries, hisExcellency Mark Gitensteinpraised the Romanian mili-taries’ bravery and profes-sional, and stated that" it isvery touching to look in thewarriors ‘eyes as these mili-taries are, and acknowledgethat they will endanger theirlives far away from home, inthe name of a commoncause. I can remember awriter who is well praised bythe Americans: WilliamShakespeare. In an wellknown poem, called Henry


brothers in arms

31Nr. 1 l 2010

V, the King appealed to his soldiers "Theone who sheds blood with me is my broth-er!" And these are my sisters and broth-ers. And thus we consider you. You arethe most precious allies and I have thegreat opportunity to appreciate this byoffering decorations and medals today,and these militaries’ bravery and profi-ciency recognition, too.

The State Secretary MihailVasile-Ozunu delivered the Minister ofNational Defense Gabriel Oprea officialcommunication, in which was empha-sized that the Romanian militaries hon-ored by decorations by the Americanpartner, whom they fought side by side,represents a motive of pride andrecognition for the exemplary missionaccomplishment in the IRAQI FREE-DOM framework, our soldiers haveproceeded accordingly to theRomanian ambassadors manner.

"We can state proudly thatRomania will carry on offering efficientsecurity in the North Atlantic Allianceframework and the Romanian mili-taries are capable to accomplish theirmissions and the responsibilitiesassumed together with the USA Army.We owe respect and appreciation tothe American and Romanian soldiers,who fight shoulder by shoulder with alltheir strength, ability and determina-tion on the battlefield against the ter-rorism, practically assuming the risks

in order to protect the same com-mon values and to respond tothe same threats," is set out in theMinister of National DefenseGabriel Oprea official communi-cation.

At the final part of theceremony the State SecretaryMihail Vasile-Ozunu stated:Today, we witnessed to a specialevent, to an impressive moment,to show gratitude to theRomanian soldiers’ contributionfor the IRAQI liberation andreconstruction. It was a touchingmoment and according to this itis evidently that the Romaniansoldiers did not go there just toshow themselves, but to actadmiringly, feat of arms recog-nized by the American allyhonor with medals. We considerthat they will pro-ceed in the samemanner. We hopethat the world to

come up to the conditionwhen soldiers should nottake action and stay athome more often. Unfor -tunately, as you can ob -serve, there a lot of con-flicts and threats, yet.

One of the hon-ored with medals wasLieutenant Gabriel Joldea.He carried out his missionin Iraqi from August 2008 until March2009, and accomplished the assignmentof action officer in Energy Fusion Cellframework, that deals with the security of

the strategically structure of oil, naturalgas, and electricity production and trans-portation.

"This honor with medals repre-sents, undoubtedly, our American partnerrecognition for the efforts that we madein the theatre of operations in Iraqi, andpresently in Afghanistan. It was a pleas-ant moment for me, the one that valuesfor an officer and certifies in an honor-able mode our actions and efforts meand my colleagues have made in time inorder to come up to a specific standard."He mentioned the friendship between theAmerican and Romanian soldiers and atthe stand up from the final part of theactivity, he detailed: There is no doubtthat because of the special events wehad shared, a lot of relationshipsstrenghtened differently than the com-mon ones. I have to emphasize the factthat, under every circumstance, I got their

continuous support and understanding -even if an impediment of languageshould have been passed – by the reasonthat in risk situations, we are all alike". n


brothers in arms

Military away from homeCiprian ANGHELUÞÃtranslated by Ana-Maria IONICÃ

The Romanian soldier inthe operational the-ater celebrates in the

Romanian way in a christian spiritand then he withdraws in a corner,places his hand on his chest, wherehe has a picture of his wife and child,and he gets ready for the next mis-sion.

Winter holidays have a specialmeaning for our soul. In thesemoments, we are full with feleeings ofcompassion, joy and quietism. Thefact that everybody celebrateswith his/her family com-forts us. Our colleaguesin the operation the-aters spend theirholidays with thebig family calledThe Army. Every -thing is alright. But,for a few moments,our soul is with theirfamily back home:a child, a wife, amother, a father. Inthese moments theyhave a great feel-

i n g

of missing for the belovedones. I am certain thatthe psychologist DanielaCotârcã could say moreabout the feelings of ourcollea gues. Feelingsthat they have duringthese mo ments.

Christmas is thecelebration of thebeautiful feelings,celebration ofthe family, thejoy for Jesusbirth. For us,last year,o u r

32Land Forces www.rft.forter.ro


brothers in arms

family was replaced with the big fam-ily of the Army and I consider that byall we did there, the military had thefeeling of belonging to this family.First, with their help and the help ofthe others back home, we tried tosupport for the great absence of theoriginal family.

The most important was theChristmas spirit, that nestled withinour souls. Now, that we are far fromthe operation theater, we will not for-get our colleagues that are therenow. Our thought will always be withthem. Even if our souls also had a sadfeeling that is not in accordance withthe joy of Christmas, we still tried tohave a great time.

In these moments we want tobe close to those in the operationtheaters, to support them with ourgood thoughts, with our beautiful

feelings and to remind them that,after a short period of time, they willbe back with their families.

Christmas is the celebration offeeling. You can not help feeling,thinking of the beloved ones, offeringpresents, bid wishes. Dear madam,as a psychologist, our listeners wouldlike to know the way our colleaguescelebrated and which the dynamic ofthe group was, as related to the spe-cific of these holidays.

The present for them was firstthe joy, the closeness of their return-ing back home. In those moments wetried be friends to each other, to for-get the ranks and positions and tocreate an environment of our own. Allthe military got involved in decorat-ing the local spaces from there to cre-ate an environment as familiar aspossible and everybody had a contri-

bution either gastronomic, or literary,or musical, or singing carols and wetried to make up a life similar to thetraditional one in Romania and tofeel the spirit of Christmas in thesame way as back home. Many ofour colleagues were part of a groupwho sang carols, impressing the for-eign military with our traditional car-ols. Of course that the Romanian isused to having all the traditionalRomanian dishes. In this regard, theyorganized themselves in smallgroups, each contributing to create agood holiday atmosphere. More -over, it is important to remember inthese moments that we must forgivethe others, find the time and thestrength to help the others and putaside the negative feelings and notforget the ones that no longer areamong us. n

— General, let us start with the beginning. What was the main reason of estab-lishing the “Holy Martyr George" Foundation?

— Land Forces military people have largely taken part in fund raisingcampaigns in order to support humanitarian activities for their brothers in armsand their families who are suffering or have social issues, with no possibilitiesto improve or solve them. The Land Forces Staff Committee for Social Issues,based on the assessments that have been performed, has initiated, organized

and developed more fund raising campaigns in order to solve these cases.“Hope for everybody" was the most relevant social campaign from the

point of view of its range and solved cases, during which the amountof 54,500 RON was raised and 17 social cases were solved.

Within the Land Forces Staff, to praise those people whofell in combat in operation theatres is a duty of honor.

Maintaining relationships with their families, as well as withthe military wounded on missions abroad; providing medicalsupport for them, as well as other types of support, embod-ies an initiative that determines the existence of a socialinstitution. Last but not least, we have had the example ofcivilian society, of the military institutions in the country orabroad, but also the necessity to have a non profit institu-tion, based on voluntary contributions, to evaluate andsolve coherently, honestly and fairly all the applications. Asa partner of the Land Forces Staff, “Holy Martyr George,

Supporting our brothers in arms



brothers in arms

Lieutenant-Colonel Dragoº ANGHELACHEtranslated by Andreea VARTOLOMEI

Interview with the president of “Holy Martyr George, theTriumphant" Foundation, Lieutenant General (rt) NeculaiBahnareanu.

the Triumphant" Foundation wasestablished from humanitarian rea-sons, as a complementary social insti-tution, and not as a competitor toother similar structures.

— What is the main activityfield of this foundation?

— Holy Martyr George, theTriumphant" Foundation performs itsactivity in a humanitarian field – hopefor our fellow military to find solutionsfor their sufferings or appease them.Its main activity field was channeledinto purposes and objectives andimplemented through programs andprojects. This fact solves coherentlyand transparently, within the limits ofthe existing funds, the social needs ofour fellow military, by acquiringgoods or social services, a prioritybeing the medical ones. The activityof this foundation depends on dona-tions from active or retired military, aswell as on the 2 percent received fromtaxes, other donations and sponsor-ships. The Director Committee of“Holy Martyr George, theTriumphant" Foundation is the controland administration device and per-forms its activity using volunteers."

— What activities have beenperformed up to this moment?

— During the first part of2008, starting with April 23rd (LandForces Day), we organized ourselvesin order to function legally and effec-tively. Thus, on April 23rd the foun-dation was acknowledged as a legalstructure District 6 Court of Law fromBucharest. During the same year, onMay 12th, we were granted the sub-scription certificate in theAssociations and FoundationsRegister ( the date when the estab-lishment of the foundation is cele-brated, according to the law), andthe next day we were granted a fis-cal recording certificate from theLocal Public Funds Direction, district6, Bucharest. The DirectorCommittee of the foundation wasestablished on July 9th and sinceDecember 1st last year-the NationalDay of Romania- we have had our

own website, which can be accessedat www.fundatiasfantugheo-rghe2008.ro. And this only refers toits organization.

Socially, we organized anddeveloped the “2 percent campaign"(from April to May 2008) as a fundraising – we took part in the activitiescelebrating the Heroes Day, the FlagDay, the Romanian Army Day andthe National Day of Romania. Wetook over the cases from the LandForces Staff Committee for SocialIssues, and we organized some lifeimproving activities and, as much asit was possible, we solved them.Other projects that we developedwere: “Hope for everyone", “A child’ssmile", “St. Helen", “There have beenheroes, heroes are still there", most ofthem being taken over by the media.I am bound to emphasize the factthat we have recorded 24 socialcases (9 children and 15 adults), towhich add up 3 cases of monitoringthe families belonging to the militarydeceased in the missions abroad and21 social cases representing the fam-ilies of our military inside the coun-try’s borders who have had specialsocial and medical issues. We havehad donations and sponsorships upto 79,000 RON.

— What are your plans for2009?

— According to the multi-annu-al planning for 2009 – 2012 and thefoundation’s budget for 2009, wehave taken into consideration the fol-lowing activities: a social programthat comprises 4 projects, an educa-tional program based on 2 projects,an economical program with oneproject and a social program of pub-lic interest, and we would greatlyappreciate having a representativefrom “Land Forces Magazine" amongus during their unfolding. We wouldalso like to attract a larger number ofnew adhesions, and in that respect,we consider appointing a personresponsible with the associative envi-ronment in every military unit withinthe Land Forces. As well as we wouldlike to obtain the public organizationstatus. n

This foundaTionThis foundaTion

has as iTs Main has as iTs Main

objecTiVes:objecTiVes:

• To provide social supportfor the active or retired mili-tary and civilian personnel

from the romanian nationaldefense Ministry, as well asfor their spouses and chil-dren, who due to economi-cal, physical, psychological

or social reasons, don’thave the possibility to fulfill

their social needs and todevelop their own abilities

and skills necessary forsocial integration

• To develop activitiesmeant to support and foster

the professional and mili-tary feelings of fellowship

• To bring back to the col-lective conscience of the

citizens the feelings ofdeep gratitude towards theheroes and martyrs of our

people

• To stimulate professionalmotivation

• To promote the spirit ofsolidarity and mutual help


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35Nr. 1 l 2010


brothers in arms

On the other sideof the microphone


Lieutenant-Colonel Dragoº ANGHELACHEtranslated by Nataniel TRANDAFIR

Right after finishing high school, junior staff ser-geant Alina Raicu started her journalisticcareer because, as she declared, she likes

being among people,knowing their joys andproblems. Nevertheless,Mrs. Raicu changed hercivilian clothes with themilitary uniform andpassed to the other sideof the voice recorder;even if she is an NCOwithin CIMIC, she is

doing very well in the pub-lic relations de -partment

At the conference of the officers in charge of publicrelations which took place in Târgoviºte, the discussionsbetween these and the journalists were held in a professionaland straightforward manner. But when you hear someonetelling Oana Dobre from “Evenimentul Zilei" that she didn’t doher homework regarding the article written by the Bãlan fam-ily orphan (lieutenant-colonel Ştefan Bãlan and his wife died,while their daughter was badly injured in a car accident on the28th of July, when the officer returned home from the theaterof operations), you cannot stop turning around and lookingwith approval for the person who uttered the sentence. Thesurprise was even bigger when I found out that junior staff ser-geant Alina Raicu, a CIMIC NCO with the 282 “UnireaPrincipatelor" Mechanized Brigade, was a journalist. Mrs.Raicu consented to answer several questions and tell us whyshe wanted to pass to the other side of the microphone andwhy she decided to put on the military uniform.

— What determined you to choose the military

career?— Our parents educated us in a certain spirit old-

fashioned nowadays- of preserving certain values, likethe national values, respecting tradition and heroes. Myfather was an officer, my mother is a teacher. The edu-cation I received home has had a word to say and thatis why I embraced the military career.

— Before choosing the military career you were ajournalist. How did you choose this profession?

— I’ve been very interested in journalism sincehigh school, I was in charge with the high school mag-azine and I really liked working with people, always dis-covering something new, gathering information and


brothers in arms

presenting it to the people; basically tobe of use to whoever read the maga-zine. After graduation I became a jour-nalist.

— How did you enjoy being ajournalist?

— I liked it very much, as long asjournalism, at that time, was done byrespecting... and here we talk againabout values and several standardsthat disappeared. The journalism Ipracticed was in the service of the per-son, respecting the principle of objectiv-ity, the value of the word, and the free-dom of each citizen. And when youknow that what you present is useful orpresents the truth, it is an asset gainedby everybody and for what you leavebehind you.

— Do you have an article that youlike the most and which brings youpleasant memories?

— Not an article. For some time Iheld a page which reflected the life inthe schools within Vrancea county, it wascalled “The voice of the third millenni-um". As long as I was a journalist thatpage worked –unfortunately it wasn’tcontinued- and it was a real pleasure towork with the pupils, especially withthose from high school. They have a lotto say, but unfortunately nobody is inter-ested in their opinion anymore. Theirbrightness stays somewhere lost amongso many aspects that are presented in anegative way. They are being drawntowards values other than the ones con-nected to learning and education.

— Now you work in the publicrelations field. How would you describebeing on the other side of the micro-phone?

— It is a little bit more difficult,especially because I work with ex-col-leagues. In order to present a certainaspect I always fall into the trap of ask-ing myself more questions than theywould. At the same time I have to pro-tect certain aspects, because the mili-tary institution is in need of constantprotection, since it represents the safetyof all of us. Then I know what to expectfrom them, and they know what toexpect from me. Basically, we still com-pete in the same way, even though I amthe one dressed in the military uniform

and they are the ones holding the voicerecorders.

— By the way, since you broughtup the military uniform, how does thearmy appear like now that you arewearing one?

— For me the army has kept thesame values and principles. The conceptof being a soldier hasn’t changed muchfrom what I already knew.

— How do you think your careerwill develop in the next five years?

— I hope I can accomplish all thegoals I’ve set for myself, to have thesame responsibilities that I have now, tomediate a relationship between the mili-tary installation where I work and thecitizens of the local community. Also Iwould like to go on a mission in an oper-ation theater abroad. I want to get toknow the environment there, not onlythe military one, but also to get in touchwith the people. I still have this desire ofworking as much as I can with peopleand to familiarize myself with as manyenvironments as possible.n

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At the infantryvery beginning


Lieutenant-Colonel Dragoº ANGHELACHEtranslated by Valericã PICIOREA

Why do we consider Fãgãraº an outset?For the reason that here trains andmoulds all the military personnel in this

weapon: enlisted soldiers, noncommissioned and commis-sioned officers. Infantry and Mountain Training Centersubordinates to the "Mihai Viteazul" Applicative School

for Fighting Units in Piteºti, and has the mission toplan,organize,coordinate and asses the basic instructionand training, permanent improvement and specializationof the infantry and mountain troops, active and in reservemilitary personnel belonging to Ministry of NationalDefense. Subordinating to the Training Center in Fãgãraº,Mountain Training Base "Bucegi" in Predeal, improves

If for the infantry officers who, at the moment, have more years of Army service, Fãgãraº wasa mandatory point, due to the career courses- up to the staff officer in the infantry battalion- thatwere carried out there , recently, due to the military education improvement, "ConstantinBrâncoveanu" Infantry and Mountain Training Center have become the Infantry out set.


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and specializes military staff andenlisted soldiers (coming from IstInstruction Battalion in Caracal) inmountaineer specialty.

In addition to the infantry mili-tary personnel instruction and train-ing stage, the institution carries outmethods of organizing, supply sup-port and instruction in weapon, elab-orates the specific documents, pro-tects and preserves the Infantry cul-tural and historical heritage.Moreover, the institution also sup-ports through major supply supportplans the infantry units that are in theCenter’s responsibility. Here areseven out of them: infantry fightingvehicle MLI-84 M, armored trans-porter for troops, optical and opto-electronic system, NATO individualweapons, advanced individual fight-

ing system, anti armor weapon sys-tem, individual system of ballisticprotection. In here there are alsoelaborated the operational require-ments for the seven supply supportprograms; their updating is carriedout according to the NATO require-ments for the deployable forces. TheDepartment of Research andDevelopment in Weapon from theTraining Center also deals with thecarry out of two very importantobjectives of the Force: MultinationalOperations in Urban Areas and theAdvanced Individual FightingSystem.

As it is well known, the waraspect has changed. Starting the lastdecade of the past century, along-side the Gulf War, the books aboutbattle conducting started to berewritten. We canobserve the forcessuper technologysupport supply,elaboration ofmore intelligentam mo, and ofcourse carrier vec-tors having a supe-rior efficiency. Weare quite endeav-ored to believethat we are nearlyto the 80’s science fiction movies,where wars were totally conductedby robots. A legitimate question aris-es according to this context: IsInfantry useful anymore? And more-over: has an institution like theInfantry and Mountain TrainingCenter any future efficiency? For the

time being the latest conflicts provedthat no matter technology and tech-nique improved the ultimate outcomeis settled by Infantry.

Here is the survey of the cours-es that are established at Fãgãraº:basic course for officers trained bydirect stages or the training coursefor the come up officers by indirectstages, in order to get their firstcareer assignment: platoon com-mander. The advanced course trainsofficers for the company commanderappointment and at the staff coursetrains the officers who will carry outin the infantry battalion general staff.For the noncommissioned officers areestablished career and trainingcourses (similar to the officers’), theadvanced course, in order to becomegroup/section commanders and pro-

moting in rank to sergeant firstclass/warrant officer class I, andaccomplishes the infantry platooncommander appointment. For theenlisted soldiers there have beenestablished the specific training forthis echelon and the lance corporals’course. n


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The way to a Europeanschool


Professor Mioara CÎMPANtranslated by Andreea VARTOLOMEI

E-tools for EuropeanEducation is the title ofa pilot-course which

launches the testing of on-line lessonsfor the high-school students in a fewEuropean countries. Computer assist-ed teaching is a new way used tohighlight the socio-cognitive aspectthrough interaction, collaboration andflexibility.

Europae Island project is basedon this principle promoting a high-level educational content, describingthe idea of a European citizenshipprocess. This activity has been coordi-nated by Centro di Studi eFormazione Villa Montesca in Italytogether with the representative edu-cation institutions in Spain, Bulgaria,Cyprus, Slovakia and Romania.Stefan cel Mare Military High-Schoolin Campulung was invited by RailwayTransport Technical School in Iasi totest the implementation of a 3 newcurriculum: The History of EuropeanIntegration, European Civic Educationand European Culture and Literature.Thus, 3 instructors and a group of 20students used this new educationalmethod which is meant to stimulatethe learning processes, especially theones based on teaching with the help


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of the comput-er.

In on-linetrai ning, lear -ning and teach-ing methodsand contents, aswell as theprocess of train-ing must belinked to thecomputer assist-ed training.Usage of theInternet requiressome changesregarding inter-action andmethods ofcommunication(for instance:teacher’s placein the classroomand student’slearning meth-ods). The virtualclass can havealmost 100 stu-dents. Howeverthe ideal num-ber of studentswhich can guar-antee a goodlevel of interac-tion and excel-lent results isaround 25. Therefore, our virtualclass which tested the curricula wascomposed of 20 students.

After our instructors took partin more training courses, they gotfamiliar with the 3 curriculum withthe help of some special lessonsheld in AEL laboratory. The newinformation and the interesting wayin which the lessons have been pre-sented arose students’ interest.Creation of a virtual class hasrequired the following of 3 steps:planning, management, implemen-tation and brought forth 2 basicprinciples: dialogue and social inter-action. After testing each curricu-lum, a virtual community made up ofstudents from each institution has

been created on the chat forum.Within the virtual class student’s rolewas more important than theteacher’s one. The instructor is theone who led the discussion, offerednew perspectives or summarized theideas, identifying the main topicsand the most important and contro-versial points of discussion. The stu-dents have been encouraged topresent their own ideas withoutbeing cricitized. As a result, chattinghas developed a special communi-cation based on the spontaneity ofthe oral communication and theaccuracy of the written one. The vir-tual community has become astrategic study source, becausehere students had the opportunity to

behave naturally from the social,cultural and emotional point ofview.

The cultural exchangeaccomplished at the level of eachcommunity had an immediateimpact. Among the consequences ofthis project we can mention the factthat the instructors have come toknow the virtual learning environ-ment and its educational potential.The students who took part activelyin this training, developed communi-cation skills with the instructor, butalso with other students. EuropaeIsland project offered the opportuni-ty to sustain a dynamic learningprocess, developing not only cogni-tive but also social skills. n

THE MILITARY HIGH SCHOOL

SPORTS SUMMER OLYMPICS

THE MILITARY HIGH SCHOOL

SPORTS SUMMER OLYMPICS


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The military highschool sportssummer olympics


Leutenent-Colonel Dragoº ANGHELACHEtranslated by Andreea VARTOLOMEI

Mihai Viteazul" MilitaryHighschool from Alba Iulia is thehost of the 37th edition of the

Military Highschool Sports Olympics. Held underthe motto “Friendship through sport" of theInternational Military Sport Council, this year’sedition brought together 180 students ready torace in a four day competition.

The Military Highschool Sports SummerOlympics represents, through the extent and com-plexity of the competition trials, the most impor-tant sports event from the Land Forces Staff. Thestudents signed up for seven trials: target shoot-ing, track and field (athletics), military triathlon,basketball, handball, volleyball and table tennis.For all the trials there is a team chart and for thetarget shooting, military triathlon and table tennis trials – an indi-vidual chart.

The opening festivity of the Olympics started with thedisplay of the sports team to the Land Forces Staff representa-tive colonel Mihai Ciungu, the performing of the national andOlympic anthems, and the colonel Ciungu delivered a speech toall the participants.

“Always, the Olympics has been a tradition for militaryhighschools and it has always opened the way for performanceto a large number of teenage sportsmen like yourselves, whenour ideals and passions urge us to aim higher and higher." Thecolonel declared he felt extremely honored to take part in theopening ceremony of the Olympics, noticing as well the condi-tions that the hosts had provided for all the competitors.

“This competition is not a purpose itself. First it is anopportunity to outclass yourselves, to make display of your

fierceness, competition spirit, sports excellence and not last thefair-play spirit which must be a main feature of this traditionbound competition", concluded colonel Ciungu, and thus hedeclared opened the 37th edition of the Military HighschoolSports Summer Olympics.

Student sergeant Alexandru Fagadau delivered thesportsmen’s oath: “On behalf of all the competitors I swear totake part in this competition by obeying the rules that determinethem, proving fair – play spirit, for the glory of sports and thehonor of our teams." On his turn, captain Ion Prundaru deliveredthe referees’ oath: “On behalf of all the referees and officials Iswear to fulfill our duties impartially during the competition,obeying the rules that determine them, respecting the fair – playspirit."

The first day was dedicated to athletics and games. At100 meter sprint race, on the first 3 positions were: staff ser-

geant student Alexandru Ifrim (11,07sec.) from Alba Iulia Military Highschool,followed by staff sergeant student RaduMatei (11,27 sec.) and corporal studentSebastian Orza (11, 31 sec.), both fromBreaza. The 400 meter race was won bythe corporal student Marius Fratila(50,22 sec.) from Breaza MilitaryHighschool “Dimitrie Cantemir", on thesecond and third places being sergeantstudent Cosmin Ciolacu from Campulung(50,48 sec.) and staff sergeant studentAntonio Ifrim (50,97 sec.), a representa-tive of the hosts. The 1,500 meter racewas divided between two competitorsfrom “Stefan cel Mare" and “MihaiViteazul" Military Highschools, and the

first two places were won by lance corpo-ral student Alexandru Mihalcea (4 min.17,51 sec.) and corporal studentAlexandru Spiridon (4 min. 19,14 sec.),whereas corporal student Adrain Dinica(4 min. 24,70 sec.) occupied the thirdplace. The last two competition taskswere the discus throw – where the stu-dents from Breaza stood out, representedby corporal student Marius Stan (12,635m) and sergeant student Mihai Bordianu(11,975 m), followed by student FlorinGriguta from Military Highschool “MihaiViteazul" – and the high jump. For thehigh jump task, the decision regardingthe first place, was made considering thenumber of attempts for the 1,86 m height,on the first place came out master ser-geant student Radu Alexa from MilitaryHighschool “Dimitrie Cantemir" Breaza,followed by Alexandru Fechete fromAlba Iulia “Mihai Viteazul" MilitaryHighschool(he reached the same heightbut he made more attempts), the thirdsplace being occupied by sergeant stu-dent Andrei Spranceana (“Stefan celMare" Military Highschool fromCampulung Moldovenesc) with 1,86m.

The second day of the Olympicsmarked the end of the athletics tasks andthe finalization of the official chart; thetriathlon and military target shootingcompetitions being scheduled for the fol-lowing days.

It was remarkable the courage ofthe sports team chief from CampulungMoldovenesc who threw the 9th gradefreshman Adrian Vezeteu into the compe-tition. As a result of the high jump compe-tition from the previous day he had occu-pied a honorable 4th with 1,80 m., and

A Difficult Throw

The discus throw competition took place onthe Cetate Stadium and took part in it 2 studentsfrom each highschool’s sports team. The com-petitors proved a lot of physical and tactical train-ing, the length of their throws displaying thispreparation. They managed to enchant their sup-porters who cheered and clapped to encouragethem. The tensed muscles and an attitude ofseriousness and concentration add up to createa competition environment. The gallery of ourhighschool managed to encourage their fair –play spirit, enjoying each throw of the studentsfrom Alba Iulia. Within the competition there were6 throws, the best one being taken into consider-ation for the final chart.

The first three places were taken by:First place: corporal student Marius Stan from

Breaza (12,635 m);Second place: sergeant student Mihai

Bordianu from Breaza (11,975 m)Third place: sergeant student Florin Griguta

from Alba Iulia (11,910 m).

Corporal students Octavian Vijoli and Andrei Talas

High Quality Table Tennis

The match started relatively easy, but, as theopponents got familiarized with each other, theattacks became more and more aggressive.

Before the beginning of the second match,the tension has been increasing, especially thatthe competitor from Breaza Highschool, corporalstudent Roxana Tolu had won the last year’scompetition. In the gym one can hear only thesound of the ball hitting the tennis table. Theadversaries look into each other’s eyes, andserving by serving, each tries to win the victoryfor her own team. Nobody has the courage tosay a thing. The audience can hardly wait for theend and after the first set is won by Alba, thenext 2 semi victories are achieved by the adver-sary.

The 4th set is ours from the beginning to theend, winning with a 11 to 9 score. Tasting the vic-tory, we get prepared for the boys’ competition.After the smiles during the break, tensionsemerge, but, fortunately, corporal studentFugaretu Marius ends them, managing not bedefeated in each set, and winning the the lastone, against the competitor from Campulung,with an 11 to 1 score.

Chart: 1st place –Alba; 2nd place – Breaza; 3rd

place – Campulung.Sergeant student Vlad Nicolcioiu


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the following day he occupied the sameplace in the long jump competition with6,18 m. Taking into consideration that hestill has time to improve his techniqueand, consequently, his performance, it’snot unnatural to consider him a perma-nent candidate to the 1st place in a com-petition.

But let us get back to the competi-tion’s aces, those who came on the firstthree positions. Starting with the 200 mrace, we can find again corporal studentMarius Fratila from “Dimitrie Cantemir"on the first place (22,52 sec.), followedby staff sergeant student Antonio Ifrim(from “Mihai Viteazul") with 22,63 sec.and sergeant student Cosmin Ciolacu(from “Stefan cel Mare") with 22,70 sec.

The 4×400 meter relay competi-tion was quite dramatic. The competitionwas fierce in the beginning, the competi-

tors from Alba Iulia imposing the paceand leading the race. The first threeswitches were made over short time peri-ods, so anything was possible. After thelast switch, the competitor from “MihaiViteazul" was visibly ahead of the otherrunners, follwed at a 30 -40 meter dis-tance by the competitors from “Stefancel Mare" and “Dimitrie Cantemir". At thelast turn, the competitor from Cantemirlost his balance while running anddropped the relay. It looked like he wasgoing to quit, but, due to his coach sup-port, he continued the race, and, even ifhe occupied the last position, he scored 8points for his team. An unexpected turnof events occurred on the last straightlane, when the competitor from Alba Iulialost his breath and the one fromCampulung Moldovenesc gathered hisforces and attacked taking the lead. The

total score: Campulung with 3min27,63sec gained 14 points, Alba Iulia, with 3min28,33 sec came on the second placewith 10 points, and Breaza on the thirdplace with 8 points. It’s still acceptable ifwe take into consideration that, in case ofquitting, the team would have been dis-qualified and wouldn’t have gotten any-thing.

The 800 meters race was disput-ed between the competitors from“Dimitrie Cantemir", “Stefan cel Mare"and “mihai Viteazul": the first place beingwon by junior staff sergeant studentIulian Dumitrascu (2 min 0,88 sec), thesecond place by lance corporal studentAlexandru Mihalea (2 min 1,41 sec) andcorporal student Andrei Dinca came outon the third place (2 min 2,89 sec).

The long jump task/trial was eas-ily won by corporal student Stefan Orza

The heart of the competition was – except the gallery that was the embodiment of fair – play – the magazine edited by a stu-dent collective under the leadership of PR consultant Diana Filomon. Besides an attractive lay-out (templates created byCarmen Cimpean), we have also noticed the accuracy of the writing style. Permanently in the fire of the competition, the repor-ters have managed to offer, each morning, the updated information regarding the competition. From my perspective, a highlyexperienced journalist that is, I can only congratulate them and urge you to access this publication at www.colmil-mvro/spartac-hiada.htm. You won’t regret it.

Handball, FromAgony to EcstasyInside “1st December"University gym, one could-

n’t tell what was going to happen: that fierce gamebetween the teams of Alba and Campulung high-schools.

The gallery has been bursting with excitement.After a balanced game, next to the end of the firsthalf, the players from Campulung detach them-selves, setting the score at 14 to 7.

The tie break represented for our team the mostprecious moment managing to gather their forces.Led by their coach, teacher Ovidiu Olteanu, cease-lessly supported and advised by the ex handballplayer, the present commander of the Alba Iulia high-school, Colonel Valerica Diaconu, they gained moreconfidence in their own forces and changed theirgame tactic.

One cannot deny the contribution of the ex MVcoach, teacher Mircea Oprea, famous for his advice(or corrections, as the case may be), applied to hisplayers, who appeared in the game area at some

moment. A piece of advice may always prove helpful!At the beginning of the second half of the game, aparallel game took place: in the stand. Very feisty inthe beginning, little by little, one of the galleries givesup. It’s not the gallery supporting Alba Iulia, becausethey channeled their energy to the players, leadingthem to victory. After 50 minutes of being led, atsome moments to the defeat point of no return, thehandball players from Alba Iulia, started an infernalriot that would lead them to victory at the end of thegame. A victory which was worth fighting for! Thechart board displayed 25 to 22 – a score that provedthat anything is possible if you want it bad enough!That one can get anything possibly to get if onemakes prove of ambition, professional behavior and,maybe if luck itself smiles down upon!

Student Diana Budiu, Lance corporal student Simona Chisu


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from Breaza with 6,53m in the secondattempt (the first one was 6,36 m). Onthe second position came sergeant stu-dent Andrei Spranceana fromCampulung, with 6,48 m and studentAndrei Manolache from Breaza with6,39 m.

Thus, at the end of the athleticscompetition, the sports team representingMilitary Highschool “Dimitrie Cantemir"from Breaza came on the first position ofthe chart with a total amount of 91 pointsand 28 in the general chart, on the sec-ond place we can find MilitaryHighschool “Stefan cel Mare" fromCampulung Moldovenesc with a totalamount of 77 point and 22 in the gener-al chart; and on the third place there isMilitary Highschool Mihai Viteazul fromAlba Iulia , the difference between themand the second position being only 19points in the general chart.

The outdoor tracking race tookplace on the last day of the Olympics, onthe hill behind the highschool, and it wasa difficult race but the coaches consid-ered it beautiful. Its difficultness consistedin the changes of pace and rhythm that itimposes. Thus, in the first part, the racewas a 100 meters sprint, followed by a500 meter slope with a 45 degrees incli-nation angle. The second part of the racebetween checkpoints 2 and 3 was 500meters long and can be considered a flatterrain race. It was enough room for overpassing. The most difficult part of therace started after checkpoint 3, wherethe competitors had to run up a series of3 turns, with a total length of 300 meters.At the end of the turns there was anascendant slope, followed by a descent.The last 200 meters to the finish line werealso a flat terrain run. The beauty of therace consisted both in its difficulty and inthe fact that, beyond their psychical abil-

ities, the competitors had to come up witha strategy to occupy the first positions.The hosts had the advantage of their ownterrain, on which they had been trainingfor a long time and they could conceivean intelligent strategy on how toapproach the race. It’s no wonder that atthe ceremony the podium was entirelyred, the equipment color of the studentsfrom Alba Iulia.

The final chart, nevertheless,placed on the first position the studentsfrom Military Highschool “DimitrieCantemir" from Breaza, on the secondplace the hosts, and on the third placethe students from Military Highschool“Stefan cel Mare" from CampulungMoldovenesc. Because BreazaHighschool was on the podium threeyears in a row the Cup was awarded tothe students from Cantemir for good.More details regarding the performancefor each task and the charts can beaccessed on the magazine’s website, onthe sports page. n


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B 00516 C 4092/08 - Revista Forţelor Terestrerft.forter.ro/sites/default/files/media/files/2015/Feb/[file:1469873460].pdfMajor General PhD Dan Ghica Radu. for both our active and