KSPFOR XVII

Task Force “Toledo” (KSPFOR XVII), at the command of Colonel Francisco Martín Alonso, integrated into Multinational Task Force West, based in Pec, initiated its mission on 18th December 2006, with the Transfer of Authority ceremony.

In all, the Task Force will be made up of 590 forces, 463 from Task Force KSPFOR XVII and 127 from Expeditionary Logistics Group S/K 17: 198 are officers and non-commissioned officers while 392 are professional troop. It is noteworthy that in all, 53 are women and 14 foreigners: 3 Colombians, 5 Dominicans, 4 Ecuadorans and 2 Peruvians.

The bulk of the force is made up by personnel from the 12th Armoured Brigade “Guadarrama” based in El Goloso (Madrid); to be precise, from the 61st Armoured Infantry Regiment “Alcázar de Toledo” and a Troop from the 12th Light Armoured Cavalry Regiment “Farnesio”. The deployment also includes a Logistics Group, the SK-17, made of 127 servicepeople mainly from the 11th Logistics Support Group in Colmenar Viejo (Madrid), that will provide its medical, supply and transport services to the Spanish forces posted in the region.

Members of the 12th Armored Infantry Brigade have already served previously –from 28th March until 1st September 2005- in missions in Kosovo, within the framework of Task Force KSPGT XIII “Asturias”. Likewise, outstanding are their missions in Bosnia and Herzegovia, in 2002 (SPAGT XVIII), 2000 (SPAGT XIV) and 1998-99 (SPABRI IX). Additionally, its members participated in the relief operation for the Mozambique floods in 2000.

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

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

In spite of Multinational Brigade Southwest’s organic transformation into two task forces, and the change of the base to which the Spaniards belong, the mission of Task Force KSPAGT XVI, in its area of responsibility of approximently 470 km2, and under the auspices of UNO Resolution 1244, continues to be the same:

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