Latvia: 'ADVANCED AND REINFORCED PRESENCE'

It is seven o'clock in the morning and the thermometer shows -10ºC. The soldiers start their physical training at Adazi base, located at 20km from Riga, Latvia's capital. They conduct a 45-minute race, and some of them come back with part of their hairs and eyelashes covered by a white colour as a result of the frost. It is February, the coldest period of the year. In these days it is strange to see the sun rising. It does not rain, it snows.

The Spanish soldiers form part of the deployed contigent in Latvia, inside the "enhance Forward Presence" mission of the NATO. They come, most of them, from the 10th "Guzmán el Bueno" Brigade -in the first rotation the generating unit was the 11th "Extremadura" Brigade- and they have already carried out their first month in the operations zone.

"We are a Tactic Group and we manage all the aspects of the combat. We have Intelligence, Manoeuvre, Fire, Protection and Logistic Support capacities", points out the chief of the contingent, lieutenant colonel Tarifa.

New facilities in the base

The current accommodation, since a few months ago, takes place in two buildings of the Latvian base: one is completely taken and, only the top floor of the second one is used. The rooms are connected in pairs and the toilets are common for the tenants. In each room stay four soldiers. All of them have heat and in the hall, at the beginning of each corridor, there is an access to a kitchen equiped with all the necessary elements for its use. Downstairs, in the first building, it is placed "Casa España" social home, meeting space where they can spend their free time.
 

In the base there are more facilities which are commonly used by the soldiers. The Canadian Army has designed a gym in a huge tent with tens of modern equipments, including a spinning room. They also have at their disposal a multinational home, including billiard tables, ping-pongs, two small cinemas and some televisions. Other alternatives for speding their free time are cycling routes or languages lessons. This aims to offer a wide variety of activities to all the soldiers.

Nowadays, more building works are being developed to put new facilities up, among them, it is being built a Command Post where all the units from the BG and the elements of national support will be placed, together with a zone with hangars and Vehicle Repair Shops. Specifically, for the Spanish contingent, it is expected to carry out an expansion of the entertainment area.

Good multinational vibes

There is a good cohesion among the soldiers from all the countries. The Spanish soldiers have a good relationship with the Italian and Polish people...; they watch football together, they do sports together too and they talk with people from different countries everywhere at the base.

"The environment that the Spanish people transmit to the mission calls the attention of the BG's members from other countries, always being friendly people, as they say. Apart from working hard, we try to be close, willing, participative, and that is what the BG thanks for", mentions the second chief of the BG, major Jansa.