The Finnish Navy exercise MEPU-16 is over - mission completed
Finnish Navy's main war exercise in 2016 is now completed. During the two weeks long exercise, the tasks of the Navy were put to the test, and tasks such as leadership, the use of fires and cooperation between the branches, as well as with other authorities were exercised.
The exercise commander was the Commander of the Finnish Navy, Rear Admiral Veijo Taipalus, with the Navy Command as his command headquarters:
- The objectives of the exercise and its requirement level were set very high already at the planning stage and the demanding conditions presented additional challenges. Despite the demanding conditions, in-service safety was given top priority at all times and the Finnish Navy personnel showed off its professional skills by acting according to their training in exceptional circumstances. During big exercises the conditions are demanding and the objective is to exercise the personnel's skills.
- The conscripts' and reservists' activity during the exercise deserves commendation and the feedback that the Finnish Navy has obtained on the exercise has been very positive. While following the activities of the headquarters and the units I could contented declare that the Navy's capability to manage its tasks is very good and that the exercise has reached its objectives.
The Finnish Navy exercise MEPU-16 improved the know-how of personnel, conscripts and reservists
Personnel and conscripts from all the brigade-level units of the Finnish Navy participated in the exercise. Some 400 reservists participated in the exercise, distributed over different tasks in all the participating units of the Finnish Navy. The framework of the MEPU16 exercise offered the reservists an excellent setting to train and maintain their national defence skills.
The exercise was also an important part of the conscript training. Approx. 1,700 conscripts participated in the exercise and for many of them it was their first contact with their wartime task. Conscripts were placed in the coastal units, special operations units and naval units as well as in protection tasks, support and maintenance tasks.
The Coastal Fleet focus on leadership and joint fires
As for the Coastal Fleet, the MEPU-16 exercise developed the know-how of the personnel, task-related procedures, leadership and cooperation with the coastal units during emergency conditions.
- The capability of the Coastal Fleet to use the two main weapons of the Finnish Navy, naval mines and anti-ship missiles, has been improved during this exercise. The professional skills of the crew was put to the test in demanding conditions and situations, the Commander of the Coastal Fleet, Captain (N) Erkki Mikkola, sums up the results of this year’s main war exercise.
The coastal units exercised in winter conditions in the archipelago
For the Coastal Brigade the main objective of the exercise was to train troop production troops in demanding conditions and to develop the capability of the brigade, especially in terms of leadership. The long exercise provided good opportunities to verify that the troops can maintain their capability in archipelago conditions.
- In these tasks, the responsibility of the leaders was of great importance. The winter conditions offered an excellent setting for the exercising troops. The Brigade's conscripts and reservists displayed great professional skills during the exercise and the in-service safety could be kept at a good level at all times, explains the Commander of the Coastal Brigade, Captain (N) Vesa Tuominen.
The Nyland Brigade participated in the exercise with an 800-strong unit. The central training objective of the command echelons was to establish a situation picture and to share it with lower echelons and other units operating in the area, command the troops with the right commands at the right time and to exercise cooperation with other naval command echelons and between the branches. Also the cooperation with the Border Guard held a central role in the exercise.
- The main objective of the troop production troops was to act in a company composition within a Battle Group framework. The exercise was a success and the units managed to meet the objectives in demanding winter conditions in the archipelago, the Commander of the Nyland Brigade, Captain (N) Kjell Törner, sums up the two exercise weeks.
Cadets, personnel and reservists from the Naval Academy also participated in the MEPU16 exercise.
