Exercise “FOREST GUARDIAN – 2023” was held for the first time from Wednesday 29 to Friday 31 March 2023.

The exercise was held in the context of the wider planning of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) regarding the cooperation and joint training of the Hellenic Armed Forces with other state bodies in matters of common interest.

“FOREST GUARDIAN – 2023”, which took place in the wider area of ​​Attikovoiotia under the coordination of the Air Support Command, in cooperation with the National Coordination Center for Operations and Crisis Management of the Fire Service, is a medium-scale joint air exercise of the Hellenic Armed Forces and the Fire Service that concerns the training of the participating forces in aerial firefighting operations for extensive forest and suburban fires on multiple fronts.

According to the announcement of the HNDGS, the purpose of the exercise was to strengthen the operational capability and readiness of the participants as well as to promote their level of cooperation and interoperability.

To meet the objective, the scenario of the exercise focused on a rapidly escalating catastrophic fire that occurred in the Malakasa area with another fire breaking out in a different area, causing the mobilization of all the agencies involved.

The Hellenic Armed Forces participated in the “FOREST GUARDIAN – 2023” exercise, as follows:

• 1 CH-47D transport helicopter of the Hellenic Army
• 4 CL-215 aircraft, 2 CL-415s, and 2 PZLs of the Hellenic Air Force. 

The Fire Service participated with:

• 1 Super Puma AS-332 Search & Rescue helicopter
• 1 BK-117 helicopter
• 1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle – UAV
• 2 Fire Vehicles and 1 Infantry unit
• the Special Unit of Forestry Operations.

The intention of HNDGS is to establish a similar type of exercises to deal with natural disasters, which enhance the readiness of the personnel and means of the Hellenic Armed Forces.

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