EUFOR’s Multinational Battalion held a military skills competition on Saturday 13 July at Camp Butmir and Pazaric firing range. The games were open to infantry soldiers from Turkey, Austria and Hungary, with teams of three soldiers taking part in 5 different disciplines.
The competition was opened by Major General Trischak who, whilst visiting the firing range at Pazaric, took a turn firing each of the three weapons the troops had to use for the first event. Each of the teams had to fire 10 shots from the standard infantry rifle of each nation: the Austrian STG 77 A2, the Turkish MPT 76 and the Hungarian AK63D. As it was a competition points were of course awarded for the most accurate shooting.
After all teams had fired each of the rifles and returned to Camp Butmir the next 3 events took place with teams moving between the stances of Truck pushing, Hand grenade throwing and the Combat Fitness Test.
The Truck pushing was particularly difficult, involving pushing a 2.5 ton Unimog 100m against the clock. Shortly after finishing this event Corporal Patrick Pesl said, “I feel broken at the minute, but overall the event is fun.”
Throwing the Hand grenades, although tricky, allowed the competitors to get their breath back before they attempted an exhausting Combat Fitness Test involving push-ups, sprinting, crawling and carrying each other.
Turkish Staff Sergeant Ahmet Yarasir, who was competing in the games said, “These games are a good chance to see the bigger picture of what goes on within EUFOR, with the Turkish, Hungarians and Austrians all working together here today.” He added: “Taking part in this sort of event really supports our friendship and co-operation.”
The final event of the day which was to decide the winning team was a race, where each team member had to carry a 10kg backpack and rifle around the airfield twice. The team with the most points from the previous events was able to set off first with subsequent teams, depending on the number of points they gained, setting off with differing time penalties.
After a closely fought battle it was Austrian Sergeants Mikscha and Kiegerl along with Corporal Spreitzhofer who emerged victorious.