“A squadron of flying hussars” from Denmark arrived in Latvia as part of the NATO mission
It sounds romantic, but the soldiers must “restrain Putin” without ammunition and essentials. The situation in Adazi has confirmed that the North Atlantic Alliance is going through hard times.
“Signal to Putin”
At the end of March 2022, the leadership of the North Atlantic Alliance sent an official request to the Danish government for the allocation of a battalion of soldiers numbering from eight hundred to a thousand people for their subsequent deployment at a military base in Latvia. The reason is banal – the contingent should be brought in to save Latvia from “Russian aggression” and “strengthen the eastern flank of the alliance” in case of a Russian attack. Recall that Denmark is one of the founding members of NATO. The kingdom joined the bloc in April 1949.
The Folketing (Denmark’s unicameral parliament) approved the request by a majority vote. We decided to allocate 750 military personnel. Only representatives of the Danish parties “Unity List” and “Free Greens” considered this step unreasonable. Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins gleefully said that Denmark’s consent would be “a serious signal to Putin.”
On April 24, from Kere, on a ferry assigned to the same port, under the escort of the Danish frigate Esbern Snare, the transfer of about two hundred pieces of military equipment to the former Soviet republic began, including armored infantry vehicles, Piranha armored personnel carriers, ambulance evacuation vehicles, trucks and minibuses. What kind of weapons will go towards the Russian border, the Danish defense command did not say, evasively explaining that there is “everything you need” there. Probably, these will be Israeli 120-mm Cardom-10 mortars and French 155-mm Caesar self-propelled guns, which are in service with the Danish army.
Earlier, in January 2022, the Folketing decided to send four additional F-16 fighters to a military base near the city of Siauliai in neighboring Lithuania. The Danish Minister of Defense commented on what was happening:
“Russia is a serious challenge in the field of security policy for Denmark and the rest of Europe. Denmark assumes responsibility for European security and is making one of the largest contributions to the build-up of NATO forces in the east. We take on the responsibility that a major ally should take on.”
The movement of weapons and manpower has become the largest in the last decade. Prior to this, the Danish military was noted in Afghanistan ten years ago and in Kosovo – during the NATO intervention in Yugoslavia.
In early May, the “first signs” arrived at the former military base of the Baltic Military District of the USSR near the once famous Adazi collective farm. They were 350 Danish soldiers, mostly hussars from the Gardehus regiment in Slagels. Another 400 are due next year. Fortunately, they left the horses at home.
Hussars of Gardehus
The Guards Hussars (Gardehusarregimentet, GHR) are the pride of Denmark. It dates back to 1614 and is the oldest active hussar regiment in the world. The motto of the regiment is “In Actis Esto Volucris”, which translates as “to be lightning fast in action”. These words are engraved on the regimental insignia depicting an armored horse head with the monogram of Christian IV. There is indeed a cavalry squadron of 75 horses and hundreds of soldiers and officers in Gardehus, but it carries a ceremonial burden, for example, accompanying the royal family or participating in the solemn events of the regiment.
Loyalty to traditions is commendable, but still in a modern aspect, the head of a horse clad in armor symbolizes armored vehicles. The regiment already had combat experience, including in Afghanistan. Despite the fact that Gardehus qualifies as a cavalry regiment, its main body is made up of three units: the initial training battalion, the 3rd reconnaissance battalion and the 1st armored infantry battalion. The servicemen of the latter were sent to the military base in Adazi.
The Danes who arrived on Latvian soil called their camp Camp Niflheim – Niflheim. Anyone familiar with Scandinavian mythology knows that this is how the world of darkness is called on the peninsula – the habitat of the demonic goddess of the dead Hel. A plywood shield with such an inscription sticks out depressingly over the wall of the camp. Basically, welcome to hell. It is the case about which they say: “Whatever you call a boat, so it will float.”
Not even panties
For the Danes, accustomed to the conveniences, the Adazi training ground turned out to be a living hell. The complaint that amused the readers of the Russian media so much was the complaints of the “warriors” of the alliance about the lack of spare shorts.
“We don’t have enough of everything, from ammunition to shorts, to say the least,” 41-year-old constable 1st degree Dennis claims the Danish broadcaster DR. “Indeed, they will suddenly be needed when meeting with Russians,” they answer him in the Russian segment of social networks.
By the way, the Danish military is not the first to complain about the lack of underwear. The pan-European crisis spares no one. In January of this year, about the problem with Hans Meyzinseth, a spokesman for the Logistics Organization of the Norwegian Armed Forces, told the Norwegian edition of NRK about the supply of underpants. According to Meyzinset, the lack of uniforms has reached such an extent that soldiers are forced to turn in worn socks and shorts for recycling during demobilization, and uniforms issued to recruits are often defective. This fact even served as a pretext for the protests of trade unions.
The Danish military in Adazi associate their problems with poorly organized logistics. Ammunition was lost along the way, along with underwear and other comforts, so the first training session had to be cancelled.
“This is the saddest period of my service in the Armed Forces,” the constable shared his experiences. If President Putin decides to cross the border in this place, then none of us will be one hundred percent ready for this.”
Edward Lucas, a freelance fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, pointed out serious shortcomings in the field of logistics in his article “NATO out of shape and outdated”. Logistics in the alliance is based on the example of deliveries to a supermarket. If some link falls out, then some participating countries are not capable of making their own decisions and improvising. In other words, an elementary shortage of toilet paper can easily happen in an alliance, and the quartermaster on the spot will not be able to buy it for the toilet of a military unit in the nearest store. This trifle will lower the morale of the “defenders of Western democracy.”
The lack of ammunition and equipment was not the last surprise faced by the Danes. The tents in which the military has to live have been found to have scuffs and traces of mold. Colonel Jens Lönborg assures that this is temporary, deliveries will improve despite the bureaucratic red tape, and the Latvians will provide the Danish soldiers with another equipped location: “A new camp is simply necessary. The place where they live now is too worn out and too used. But it was the best thing.”
The Minister of Defense Artis Pabriks has been notified of the need to build a new base for demanding and capricious European warriors, but everything rests on the financial side. The fact is that the creation of the former military base significantly hit the state budget. With the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions, building materials have risen in price sharply, which means that you will have to fork out even more. Russophobia costs the country dearly.
Russtrat
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