Quadriga 2025
Brave Blue und Safety Fuel
Bundeswehr logistic forces ensure supplies for Grand Eagle army exercise in Lithuania.
Bundeswehr logistic forces ensure supplies for Grand Eagle army exercise in Lithuania.
The Bundeswehr Joint Support Command forces employed in the combined Brave Blue and Safety Fuel logistics exercises prove that the Bundeswehr is determined to defend NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization’s eastern flank over a long period of time. This readiness, however, will only be credible if supplies for Army troops and other services are moving: That is precisely what the mobile logistic forces of the Bundeswehr Joint Support Command will be practicing with their partners of the Army combat service support battalions in Lithuania in August and September. It is the way enablers make combat troops sustainable and deterrence credible.
For this purpose, logistics professionals of 161 and 171 Logistic Battalions under the command of 1 Logistic Regiment will set up what is referred to as “theatre logistics network” for the first time in Lithuania. This network extends from fixed logistic facilities in Germany via the Baltic Sea port of Klaipeda to the Lithuanian training area of Pabrade. This is where the soldiers of the Grand Eagle exercise will be provided with real supplies - with everything an Army brigade needs: ammunition, rations, spare parts, fuels, and lubricants. The fuel for all vehicles comes from a bulk-fuel installation built especially for this purpose, which will be set up and run by 164 Specialist Engineer Regiment together with Hungarian allies during the Safety Fuel exercise.
In order to be able to temporarily store supplies, park hundreds of transport trucks and perform repair work, logistic units will primarily rely on civil infrastructure. The infrastructure was reconnoitred last year to make arrangements with Lithuanian companies and local authorities.
Prior to the “hot phase” of Brave Blue and Safety Fuel, a port handling company of 163 Logistic Battalion RSOMReception, Staging, Onward Movement will ensure that all arriving Bundeswehr forces and vehicles will reach their employment areas. The units from Delmenhorst, Germany, are a unique asset in NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization, and specialise in the RSOMReception, Staging, Onward Movement process (reception, staging and onward movement), which describes the rapid deployment of larger formations in the Alliance territory. During the reception process, the experts for strategic deployments will receive personnel, vehicles and materiel at the port of Klaipeda and other places of arrival. The RSOMReception, Staging, Onward Movement process will continue with what is known as “staging”, the process of integrating, or, in other words, “marrying up”, personnel and equipment. The onward movement process consisting of the deployment to the actual destination is a responsibility to be shouldered by the combat troops participating in Quadriga 2025 without support by other forces.
Reconnaissance parties of 172 and 472 Logistic Battalions will also be involved in the Brave Blue exercise. Their mission will be to reconnoitre alternative logistic support areas to be used in a hot conflict if so required. Latvia, Lithuania's neighbouring country, will also be included in these reconnaissance activities, as the entire Baltic region is a potential theatre of operations for Bundeswehr logistics.
During their exercises, the logistics professionals will be supported by Military Police, the Medical Service, members of the Cyber and Information Domain Service and the Bundeswehr Civil-Military Cooperation Command. For the first time, the headquarters of 1 Logistic Regiment will integrate personnel of an embedded support organisation of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Infrastructure, Environmental Protection and Services (FOBwIEPSFederal Office of Bundeswehr Infrastructure, Environmental Protection and Services) to practice the role of the Federal Defence Administration.
