CSTO manoeuvres: debut of the Combined Rapid Reaction Force

The final active phase of Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) exercises were held at the Matybulak military training ground this week, involving joint action by a Collective Rapid Reaction Force (CRRF) contingent to destroy enemy forces. Under the scenario, an armed group seized a chemicals plant and the CRRF had to neutralise the gunmen and free the hostages. 
 
President Medvedev watched the manoeuvres together with the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiev, the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon. During the exercises in Kazakhstan all of the CRRF servicemen, and the presidents of the five CSTO countries present, wore new Russian-made uniforms. 
 
Up to 7,000 servicemen and more than 300 tanks, armoured personnel carriers and aircraft were engaged in the exercises. Russia was represented by the 31st paratroop attack brigade, the 54th artillery brigade, as well as Air Force and Emergency Situations Ministry units.
 
The first stage of the large-scale Cooperation 2009 exercises took place at the end of August at the CSTO joint staff headquarters in Moscow. The second stage, held as part of the Zapad 2009 strategic exercises, took place at the end of September in Belarus, and the third stage was held in Kazakhstan.
 
The establishment of the CRRF was first proposed in December 2008, and the CSTO member states agreed to its establishment at the organisation’s summit on February 24, 2009, in Moscow in order to protect member states’ territorial integrity and sovereignty, guarantee security and respond to large-scale crisis situations in member countries.
 
Speaking yesterday (Ocober 16th) President Medvedev said: "I think they went very well indeed. They represent a landmark event in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation’s development and in our cooperation in general. I would like to note what my colleagues have already pointed out, namely, that we proposed the idea of establishing this collective rapid reaction force last December at an informal summit here in Kazakhstan. Now it is October, and not only have we signed and ratified the documents establishing the force, but we have actually seen it in action together. This is the way we should work on our other integration projects too.
   
What did we see today? We saw how the different units work together in field operations: the combined arms units, interior ministry forces, and units from the emergency situations ministries. Everything took place in real combat conditions. This is our response to the threats our countries face today: terrorism, which knows no borders, drug trafficking, religious radicalism, and other threats we all confront today.

The exercises went off very well. I went through the timing, looked at when everything was planned, and it was all performed to the minute. How was this achieved? This is no simple feat, after all. We all know that during exercises, during military events of this sort, nothing is left to chance. They all spent two months training in the field. This was excellent practice. As they said themselves, over this time all of the soldiers and officers taking part not only became friends with each other and found a common language, but got to know each other better, became more familiar with the principles of their work, and were better able to hone their tactics and coordinate swift cooperation.

I therefore think these exercises are a new step in building up our capability to respond to today’s threats, a new step in developing our collective rapid reaction force to respond to the threats coming from complicated regions in Central Asia and other places. This will also certainly take us further along the road to integration in general."
 
The CSTO member states are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.