Linking the Parts

The objective of these maneuvers was to check on the ground the distinctive capacities of the new Brigade.  It was with these words the Chief of the Brigade “Aragon” I, General Martínez-Falero, summarized the principal motivation of the “Isla Mínima” exercise, that took place from the 2nd to the 9th of June in the Maneuvers Field “San Gregorio” (Zaragoza).

It involved the first of the exercises with a major entity that carried out the “Arágon” starting from its creation, the 1st of January 2017 with the presence of all units. Some are heirs to the missing Cavalry Brigade while others from the extinct Mountain Troop Headquarters.

This diverse inheritance contains another distinctive feature, which distinguishes this Brigade from the others in that it has been created with a new structure: its geographical dispersion.  While it´s not the only that counts on some units located out of the main position – for example, the “Guadarrama” has a Cavalry Group in Valladolid, or the “Almogávares” in Valencia which has most of its´components distributed throughout the Peninsula. Although the majority is in Zaragoza, the “Galicia” Regiment maintains its´ headquarters in Jaca, and “Arapiles” divides its´ Battalions between San Clemente de Sasebas (Gerona) and Barcelona.

De ahí que el reto de la integración resulte todavía mayor en su caso, al igual que la trascendencia de un ejercicio que ha logrado reunirlas a todas en poco más de 34.000 hectáreas, con la salvedad de una parte de los miembros del “Galicia”, que participaron pero desde el Pirineo oscense; una de sus secciones fue helitransportada hasta Zaragoza para el ejercicio final. Ellos actuaron en un escenario secundario dentro de un «ejercicio de ofensiva en el que un país sufre una agresión de otro vecino y una fuerza multinacional tiene que intervenir para devolverlo a sus fronteras y frenar una limpieza étnica y los riesgos de ataques NBQ», explicaba el teniente coronel Parrado, jefe de Estado Mayor de la BrigadaTherefore, in this case the Integration Challenge seems even larger, equal in importance to an exercise that managed to join all units in little more than 34,000 hectares, that participated, with the exception of some of the members from “Galicia”, - from the Huesca Pyrenees; where one of its´sections was transported by helicopter to Zaragoza for the final exercise.  They participated in a support scenario of an “offensive exercise in which the country suffers an aggression from a neighboring country and Multinational Forces have to intervene in order to return the control of their borders - stop an ethnic cleansing and risk from NBQ attacks”, all explained by Lieutenant Colonel Parrado, Chief of the Brigade Staff..