Altamira (PA) – The Northern Military Command offers the United Nations the first Rapid Jungle Reaction Company to act in peacekeeping missions.
The certification took place this Friday, September 23rd, at the 51st Jungle Infantry Battalion (51st BIS), in Altamira, Pará, where the training took place. In total, 180 soldiers from the 23rd Jungle Infantry Brigade and its subordinate military organizations participated in the activities, 9% of the military personnel being women.
The troops went through the United Nations Peacekeeping Capabilities Readiness System (UNPCRS). The exercises simulated real situations of motorized and foot patrols, with boats on the Xingu River, infiltrations in forest areas, hostage rescue, escorts and humanitarian convoy, as well as riot control operations.
The training took place between September 19 and 23, and employed 29 vehicles, 8 boats, and more than 200 weapons for the exclusive use of the Brazilian Army. “This is a pioneering capability. Brazil has other troops that have been included and certified by the UN.
But now our intention is for Brazil to be in a differentiated position by offering the jungle capacity, which does not exist yet,” commented Colonel Carlos Alberto Coutinho Vaz, Commander of the Joint Center for Peace Operations of Brazil (CCOPAB), responsible for evaluating the Advanced Peace Operations Exercise.
At the end of the exercise, Major Emerson Guimarães Fontoura, commander of the Quick Reaction Company (QRF), received the certification from the hands of the CCOPAB Commander. Also present at the ceremony were Colonel Vitor Hugo de Bastos Silva, from the Land Operations Command, and Lieutenant Colonel João Bosco Reis Cestaro, representing the Northern Military Command.
“It is a pride to have the troops prepared to be employed in any situation. It is a new capacity that Brazil has the opportunity to offer to the UN, according to our jungle characteristics, readiness, and operability for employment in any mission,” concluded Lieutenant Colonel Luiz Guilherme de Oliveira e Silva, Commander of the 51st Jungle Infantry Battalion.
*** Translated by the DEFCONPress FYI Team ***