How the special troops of the Romanian Police prepare. Report on the most extensive training of the “masked”
During this period in Botoșani, the largest and most complex training camp for special forces in Romania takes place. The event is international in scope, with the participation of elite fighters from two other countries. Spectacular, difficult and also dangerous applications take place.
Special forces in action PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
One of the most important international training courses for special forces from three countries takes place in the extreme north of Romania. In Botoșani there are over 130 “masked” from nine counties, but also from Hungary and the Republic of Moldova. They are elite troops, specialized in combating acts of extreme violence, including hostage-taking and terrorist attacks. It is an internship, as the chiefs of the Police say, on a large scale, with missions as spectacular for the average viewer as they are dangerous. There were also exercises taken out as if from American movies, with boosters from buildings and from helicopters, but also attacks on buildings infested with “terrorists”.
“Blue Guardians”, where special forces are trained
The training course is called “Blue Guardians” and is already in its third edition. Actually, for three years in a row, the training courses of the special troops of the Romanian Police have taken place in Botoșani. It is a five-day training course, divided into modules and workshops, where special forces are trained for all kinds of missions. “The exercises are structured in workshops. As a novelty, this year we have some additional elements. Respectively an orientation module in different environments, from forest to open space and urban areas. But also a command-level training module for managing special situations. The rest are specific training exercises, i.e. we have the escalation module, intervention from buildings, the intervention and action module on some buildings, the orientation module in different environments and the command module”says Tudor Costîn, head of the Botoșani County Police Inspectorate, the structure that organizes the event. In fact, Botoşaniul was chosen as a training place for special troops within the “Blue Guardians” due to the logistics it has, the infrastructure, but also the fact that it has a nursery of elite fighters in the field of special interventions.
Rappelling down the building PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
“It is organized in Botoșani because it is an area where we have the necessary facilities and the environment for organizing this type of internship, which is already in its third edition, and I think we did well and represented the Romanian Police with honor”adds Tudor Costîn. Policemen and fighters from intervention structures from the counties of Maramureș, Satu Mare, Suceava, Iași, Vaslui, Galați, Tulcea and Bistrița-Năsăud participate in the training. At the same time, gendarmes from Botoșani and Suceava were co-opted this year, as well as the special troops from the Penitentiary. “We expanded the intervention area and the training area, in the sense that we also invited operators from the Gendarmerie and the Botoșani Penitentiary, which means that the interest in such exercises, both in the penitentiary area and in the Romanian Gendarmerie area, is very high”adds Costîn.
“We can learn from each other”
At the same time, this training course also has an international connotation. And this in the conditions in which teams of special police forces from Hungary, but also the famous “Lightning” brigade from the Republic of Moldova, participate. More specifically, fighters from the Ministry of National Defense and the Készenléti Rendőrség Special Services and Intervention Police are present. The representatives of the intervention teams in Hungary say that this internship is particularly important, because there are few such events dedicated to special forces in the east-central European area, being an opportunity for exchange of experience.
Forest survival courses PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
“We are from the rapid intervention forces of the Hungarian police and we work for the National Bureau of Investigation. It is an honor to be invited here, to be at this internship. It is an important event, because there are not many training internships like this, where we can meet colleagues from other countries and learn from each other. It is an extraordinary exercise and collaboration, we feel very good”say the representatives of the Hungarian special forces.
For their part, the “Lightning Brigade” representatives say that at these internships they learn new strategies and new methods of intervention, which can be applied in their work. “For us it is very important, because we accumulate experience and we can also use it in our intervention actions or in the usual training sessions”say those from the “Lightning” Brigade.
All-out “war”, gunfire and incursions
The training began on Monday, May 25 and will run until Friday, May 29, when a general tactical exercise will take place. As stated by those coordinating the event, everything takes place in the workshops. The venue of the event is the “Codrii de Arăma” Camp in Agafton. It is one of the most suitable places. It has disused buildings, a huge forest around, tactical meeting spaces and most of all, generous areas for shooting and other specific exercises. For example, at a three-story block intended for tourists, today decommissioned and awaiting rehabilitation, SAS troops carried out rescue interventions.
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Indoor combat simulation PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
“Masqueraders” descended from the roof with ropes and “shot” their Glock pistols at anything that moved through the windows of the building. Later, after they went down the paths in the forest, at a few former cabins, but also at a former disco complex in the forest, today abandoned, a full-fledged “war” took place.
Special intervention troops from the SAS, gendarmes and such, armed to the teeth with an entire intervention arsenal, plus the full equipment, from camouflage overalls with unit insignia to the famous balaclava and helmets equipped with all sorts of modern equipment. There was no shortage of automatic pistols, smoke grenades and other types of grenades for the distraction, with the role of shock. There were tactical, extremely fast and well-organized break-ins, with broken doors, smoke-filled rooms, brief gunfire and dangerous “criminals” being taken out of the loop.
Intervention of special troops from Jadarmerie PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
Scenarios were also applied for the evacuation of injured colleagues, in the event of exchanges of fire. In another area of the camp, complex tactical training activities, training in difficult terrain and shootings with all categories of weaponry were carried out, in conditions simulating real interventions.
Special forces in action PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
“In most cases where the violence exceeds a certain level, the SAS structures intervene and they do it very well. It can be a hostage-taking, they negotiate, they intervene in a very elaborate negotiation process according to SAS procedures, but they can also engage in a fire response to a situation that can degenerate at any moment”explains the head of IPJ Botoșani.
Risk and spectacle at SAS training
One of the most spectacular and, at the same time, with the highest degree of risk among the SAS exercises in the “Blue Guardians” was the rappel from the helicopter. Actually, an SAS troop, properly equipped to annihilate a terrorist group or a group of dangerous and armed criminals, boarded a Black Hawk helicopter belonging to the Romanian Police.
Rappelling from the helicopter PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
Infiltration into a heavily vegetated area controlled by a group of dangerous criminals was simulated. The special forces actually descended, like in the movies, in rappel, from the helicopter in the air, maintained at a height of almost 10 meters. The special forces quickly acquitted themselves of the mission and entered the thick vegetation with automatic pistols to continue the exercise.
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What are the special police forces used for in Romania
Special forces train for difficult missions. In particular, say police chiefs, those related to extreme violence, with very brutal aggressors, often out of control or armed individuals. Not to mention organized crime groups and other individuals with criminal backgrounds. But, especially recently, they are increasingly trained to combat terrorist actions.
“As an important area of operation, we intervene, at the moment, in cases of serious domestic violence. Colleagues participate in home searches or interventions against dangerous people, but we also prepare for extreme situations, such as hostage-taking and terrorist attacks”states Costîn.
Special troops PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
SAS special forces, use modern equipment. Among the weapons commonly used by special forces are the Glock 17 pistols (caliber 9×19 mm Parabellum), the Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns (caliber 9 mm), highly valued for tactical missions in confined spaces (CQB), but also assault rifles, also Heckler & Koch G36. Obviously, there is no shortage of sniper rifles. Added to all this are numerous devices for shock, diversion, breaching (breaking doors and windows) and many others.
