Two large-scale military exercises will take place in Romania starting this week, bringing together some 2,500 soldiers from NATO member states. One of the exercises will include the simulation of an operation on an offshore oil platform belonging to Romanian oil company OMV Petrom, according to information provided by the Romanian Ministry of Defense – MapN.

The first exercise takes place between June 16 and June 26 in several military bases, firing ranges and airfields in Eastern Romania. The exercise is called ROUSOUFEX 2015 and involves special operations forces. Some 1,500 soldiers and over 100 military vehicles from Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Poland, U.S., Turkey and Romania take part in this exercise.

The exercise includes tactical maneuvers, combat shootings, parachuting troops into combat situations. A tactical exercise will also take place on OMV Petrom’s Gloria offshore platform, in the Black Sea.

The second exercise is called TRIDENT JOUST 2015 and takes place at the Cincu firing range near Brasov, between June 17 and June 28. This exercise marks the first time a Joint Force Command headquarters will deploy to Romania, meaning the headquarters will temporarily move to Romania for the duration of the exercise.

"The exercise is designed to test the abilities of Joint Force Command Naples to lead a collective defense operation for the Alliance," said Admiral Mark Ferguson, Commander of JFC Naples. "This deployment will test the full operational capability of my staff by shifting command and control between my headquarters in Naples and the forward deployed elements in Cincu."

A Boeing 777 plane already landed in Sibiu, on Tuesday morning, June 16, bringing some 300 NATO troops and personnel that will take part in the exercise at Cincu. Twenty five NATO nations and more than 1,000 personnel will participate in TRIDENT JOUST 15, combined with an additional 200 Romanian soldiers taking part in a live fire exercise.

TRIDENT JOUST 15 is also a part of a larger series of exercises referred to as ALLIED SHIELD that will take place throughout the region. The exercises will include some 14,000 NATO soldiers.

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editor@romania-insider.com