EU Military Exercise (MILEX) type exercises are conducted in an annual basis and they are considered to be the most important military training activity within the Union.
It is by itself, a challenge for any EU OHQ to be designated to actively participate in the planning and conduct of a MILEX type exercise that seeks to further enhance the EU military capacity to respond to an external conflict and crisis within the EU Integrated Approach.
CPX MILEX 21 was conducted from 07 to 18 June 12, within the context of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) concentrating on the EU’s ability to respond to and manage crisis and the interaction between the EU Operation Headquarters (OHQ), at the military strategic level, and the EU Force Headquarters (FHQ), at the military operational level.
Greece provided the EL EU OHQ in Larissa and the EL EU FHQ in Nea Santa (Kilkis) as the military EU HQs at the military-strategic and operational levels, respectively, for the needs of the exercise.
Nevertheless, this year the preparation and conduct of CPX MILEX 21 was even more challenging, since it was the first time that an EU exercise took place within an on-going pandemic environment that has affected the way of conducting business worldwide. Within this context, the EL EU OHQ with the support of the Hellenic Military Authorities had to carefully plan all the Real Life Support related details (transportation of Multinational personnel, boarding and lodging, medical support, etc.) in order to successfully overcome the COVID-19 Pandemic’s unique challenges.
