Posted by “The Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) is located at the Albanian Ministry of Defense and manages a variety of security assistance programs. These programs provide training and equipment to support the modernization of Albania’s military as well as humanitarian assistance. (United States European Command)” [1]
And so we learn from WikiLeaks latest release of searchable original documents that the US Embassy in Tirana organises and pays for the participation of hundreds of Albanian military personnel and their equipment to Military Exercise Combined Resolve for at least two years 2017 and 2018. Tenders for commissioning transport from Albania to Hofenfels are very revealing.
“Combined Resolve X includes approximately 3,700 participants from 13 nations at the 7th Army Training Command’s Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels Training Area. In 2018 it took place between April 9 and May 12, 2018. In a training area known as “the Box,” coalition forces, led by the Polish Army 12th Mechanized Division, with soldiers from Lithuania, Romania, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Georgia and Czech Republic, square off against an opposing force comprised of U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment and soldiers from the Ukrainian, Slovenian, Romanian and Latvian Armies.” [2]
For 2017 they financed the participation of the Albanian military participants in both Combined Resolve exercises VIII and IX with at least 132 personnel including 8 tonne of military equipment and ammunition for VIII and 117 personnel for IX [4]. In 2018 the number was lower at 113 people for Combined Resolve X [5] and 100 military personnel for Combined Resolve XI [6]
Interestingly the transport route is specified via Bari, Italy, which implies first a naval crossing at Adriatic sea, followed by the longer road route to Germany via Italy and Switzerland rather than through Montenegro,Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria, which is a faster route.
[1]. US Embassy in Tirana (Albania) Sections and Offices: Defence Attaché Office https://al.usembassy.gov/embassy/tirana/sections-offices/
[2]. Soldiers break language and culture barriers during Combined Resolve https://www.dvidshub.net/news/276071/soldiers-break-language-and-culture-barriers-during-combined-resolve
[3]. RFQ for Transport 2017 Combined Resolve VIII https://shoppinglist.wikileaks.org/docs/al_2017-03-RFQ-Transportation-Service-to-Germany-final
[4]. RFQ for Transport 2017 Combined Resolve IX https://shoppinglist.wikileaks.org/docs/al_2017-06-RFQ-Transportation-Service-to-Germany-August-2017-
[5]. RFQ for Transport 2018 Combined Resolve X https://shoppinglist.wikileaks.org/docs/al_RFQ-Transportation-Service-to-Germany-April-2018
[6]. RFQ for Transport 2019 Combined Resolve XI https://shoppinglist.wikileaks.org/docs/al_RFQ-Transportation-Request-for-Combined-Resolve-XI-Exercise
greekemmy 