Simulated warfare started in Latvian cities - Namejs 2021

Imants Vīksne schedule6.sep 2021

The annual military training exercises Namejs has started - the largest and most complicated training that is organized in Latvia, both in terms of the diversity and intensity of operations and the resources involved. This year's lessons are particularly important because the hybrid threat played out in the scenario is quite real due to the migrant crisis provoked by Belarus and Russia.

Usually, the army does its work discreetly, and only rarely do soldiers leave their training bases, headquarters, battalions and shooting ranges. But when it happens, you have to be ready for a lot of noise and unusual scenes. It is necessary to examine how national defense plans work in real life and in the real environment where war will take place in the hour of crisis.

From a hybrid war to a conventional one

According to the National Armed Forces, the training takes place in two phases - the first, which started in late August and continues in the first half of September trains how to react to hybrid threats, i.e., in a situation when large-scale warfare is not yet taking place. Therefore, together with the army and the National Guard, the home affairs services are also involved in the training - the police, the Border Guard and the State Fire and Rescue Service. This is also in line with the current situation on the country's eastern border, where the operation is still in the hands of the State Border Guard and the army is acting as a support. If such local incidents escalated from a hybrid phase into a real conventional warfare with a clear enemy and a battlefront, the army would take over. A scenario of such a conventional threat will be played out in the second half of September.

Warfare can take place anywhere

The biggest activities of Namejs in the urban environment and outside the Ādaži and regional military bases will take place this week - from September 6 to 12. Military activities will take place in Riga and the regions adjacent to the capital, also in Jelgava, Kuldīga, Dobele, Ventspils, Aizkraukle, Jēkabpils, Preiļi, Daugavpils, Rēzekne and elsewhere in Latvia. During the training, the movement of military equipment and personnel can take place anywhere in the territory of Latvia. On land, in air and in water. In total, 10,000 soldiers and national guards are participating in the training. Including 615 NATO battlegroup soldiers stationed in Latvia. But the total number of people involved in Namejs is much higher, not just because of the interior services and medics involved. According to the concept of comprehensive protection, the general public, including local governments and private companies, must be involved in national defense and mobilization. Therefore, larger and smaller incidents and crises are currently being played out in civilian institutions, organizations and companies.

Do not disturb

Such large-scale training means that people must be ready to see unusual situations, as well as experience certain inconveniences. Firstly, there may be temporary disruption to traffic due to the increased movement of military equipment on the roads. Military equipment transport drives relatively slowly. They are accompanied by the Military Police or the Transfer Coordination Center. When approaching the line of military equipment transports, the armed forces call on drivers to follow the rules of the road and not to obstruct the movement of the line, for example, trying to overtake it. Drivers in such situations must have patience.

The second thing that the population must take into account during these training exercises is the simulation of warfare. Soldiers will patrol, set up hiding places, patrol bases and checkpoints, as well as perform various other training tasks. All this will happen on roads, streets, in the yards of residential houses, in more and less populated areas. In such simulations, of course, there are also fights, when the good forces fight the bad ones. Then there is a lot of noise, shots fired, something explodes, the wounded are screaming, auxiliary forces running, war machines driving, and for the outsiders, it all looks aggressive and scary.

It can also happen that during all this activity something is broken, something is damaged, some shrubs and plantings are trampled. However, after training, the army always cleans everything up and, if necessary, also compensates for the damage done.

No need to be afraid

Seeing the simulated warfare - the movement of soldiers and national guards outside military bases and unit locations, the deployment of machinery and other equipment and the taking of positions in various parts of Latvia - the inhabitants are urged not to worry. Of course, the weapons are real, but only training ammunition and combat simulation tools are used during training outside the bases. They make noise but do not endanger human health and life. However, caution must be exercised in any case. When you see active warfare, it is not recommended to go to the epicenter of events, if only to avoid inhaling the smoke, and if you find unknown objects in the training places, it is forbidden to touch or move them. Otherwise, the whole scenario will collapse, possibly with a huge bang.

To be ready in the hour of crisis

It is especially important to inform the elderly and those who live in a reality detached from Latvia - in the Russian information space - about the fact that the biggest military maneuvers of the year are taking place throughout Latvia in September. No, no war has started in Latvia. So far, there are no clear signs that so-called little green men have entered the country. Although the security services acknowledge that there may be some among the illegal immigrants admitted to the country. Radical Islamists, people with hostile intentions, terrorists. And the source of this crisis is hostile countries on the other side of Latvia's eastern border. Therefore, the Latvian army must maintain and improve its military capabilities, train mutual cooperation between services. Therefore, we have to prepare for the hour of crisis day by day, may it never come, but - if it does, then with the least possible damage to our country and with the greatest possible damage to the aggressor. As the ancient Roman war adage teaches us -