KSPAGT XVI

Task Force “Castillejos” (KSPGAT XVI), at the command of Colonel López González, integrated in Multinational Task Force West, based in Pec, began its mission on 10th July 2006, with the Transfer of Authority ceremony.

In total, the Task Force is made up of 516 forces, 149 of which are officers and 367 professional troops soldiers.It is noteworthy to point out that of all of these, 48 are women, and that for the first time since the 2nd Cavalry Brigade “Castillejos” arrived in the Balkans in 1992, one of its Task Forces integrates members of a non-Spanish nationality, concretely 12 Colombians, 7 Ecuadorans and 1 Peruvian.

Multinational Brigade Southwest based in Prizren has been transformed into two different task forces:“South” continues in this locality, made up of Germans, Turks and Austrians, while “West”, made up of Spaniards and Italians, has been transferred to Pec recently.

At their new location, the Spanish servicepeople are gradually organised into Command and Headquarters Units, Command Support Team and other Cavalry Company types or other types of Support Units.

The deployment also includes a Logistics Task Force, the SK-16, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Pallarés. The SK-16 is made up of 196 servicepeople from the 41st Logistics Support Group in Zaragoza, that will provide its medical, supply and transport services to the Spanish forces posted in the area until December of this year.

The SK-16 force expedition has coincided with the 20th anniversary of the creation of the 41st Logistics Support Group, the first military Unit located in Zaragoza which is specialised in the different logistics fields.

Despite the organic transformation of Multinational Brigade Southwest into two task forces, and the transformation of the base to which the Spanish belong, the mission of Task Force KSPAGT XVI, in its area of responsibility of approximately 470 km2, and under the protection of UN Resolution 1244, continues to be the same:

• Contribute to the general peace and stabilisation process in Kosovo.
• Guarantee the freedom of movements.
• Maintain a secure environment for ethnic minority groups.
• Provide protection at national heritage sites.
• Maintain control of the administrative limits with Serbia and Montenegro.