The Czech Lizard 2019 exercise was completed on Friday, April 26, by confirming the combat readiness. It had been held in the Libavá military area since April 8, and its aim was to certify combat readiness of the battalion task force based on the 71st ‘Siberian’ Mechanized Battalion from Hranice for deployment of the forces to the NATO Response Force.

Picture: Taking defence after contact with an enemy | army.cz, kpt. Mgr. Ladislav Kabát

The three-week challenging exercise was based on a scenario that reflects the conditions of a contemporary symmetric high-intensity conflict and proved the competence of the task force to plan, manage and conduct combat activities in a team of allied forces under conditions that are close to a real war conflict.

Picture: Tracking movement of an enemy | army.cz, kpt. Mgr. Ladislav Kabát

They occupied the defined area 

“Our task was to occupy the defined area of defence, deploy covering forces, and, afterwards, prove the ability to smoothly change individual types of defensive and offensive tactical activities,” described the Lieutenant Colonel Petr Blecha, the Commander of the 71st Mechanized Battalion and also the complete task force ACNR 2019 - 2021.

Picture: Attack of an enemy possessing tanks and infantry fighting vehicles  | army.cz, kpt. Mgr. Ladislav Kabát

The enemy, simulated by the units of the 73rd tank battalion, exposed the task force to a number of complex situations. The opening included elements of conventional and unconventional warfare, including the use of electronic warfare, attacking of command posts from the rear, or the use of weapons of mass destruction on the frontline units.  

During the entire time of certification, training units were supervised by a group of referees, which carried out an inspection of fulfilment of started tasks thoroughly, supervised the compliance with the security measures and coordinated the activity with the management staff of the exercise.

The evaluation team took part in the certification

The evaluation team, composed of members of the 7th Mechanized Brigade, Ground Forces Command and foreign Allied Land Command, based in Izmir in Turkey, evaluated at the same time all the tactical activities according to the standardized Combat Readiness Evaluation, or CREVAL. 

Picture: Two foreign military officers from Allied Land Command supervised the certification  | army.cz, kpt. Mgr. Ladislav Kabát

“During the Czech Lizard 2019 exercise, the task force showed their versatile readiness and managed to meet all the necessary criteria for the certification of combat readiness for fulfilment of tasks of the NATO Response Force,” the head of the evaluation team, Colonel Zdeněk Mikula, said at the final parade.

Picture: Exercise supervisor Colonel David, Commander of the certified group Lieutenant Colonel Blecha, and the head of the evaluation team Colonel Mikula | army.cz, kpt. Mgr. Ladislav Kabát

• The VJTF task force consists of 1.000 soldiers, the majority of them are from the 71st ‘Siberian’ Mechanized Battalion. Another big part of the unit is represented by the members of the 14th Logistics Support Regiment, performing the role of National Support Element (NSE, National Support Element) and a supply company.
• The group is accompanied by military police officers, members of the 13th Artillery Regiment, and several other specialists in the area of communications systems, healthcare or air forces. It also includes a Romanian Mechanized Troop, which, however, did not join the CZECH LIZARD exercise.