OCC annual conference, held for the first time in Chisinau

CHISINAU, October 4, 2019 - The annual activity planning conference according to the Operational Capability Concept (OCC) takes place between September 30 and October 4, in Chisinau. The event, organized for the first time in our country, brings together 71 representatives of the Ministries of Defense from the countries that have joined the OCC concept.

Present at the opening ceremony of the conference, Deputy Head of National Army General Staff, Colonel Octavian Varzari, said that the verification and certification of National Army subunits under the OCC is a mandatory condition for participation in foreign peacekeeping operations, an objective included in all documents strategic. "All 11 contingents deployed in the KFOR operation in Kosovo, since 2014, have been assessed under the OCC program and have received the rating`ready for mission`. It is important for us to meet the participation criteria and we prepare very seriously for this test, training daily, both in the landfills in the country and abroad, in multinational exercises" said Colonel Varzari.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Sorin Bacalu from the Training and Doctrines Directorate, the 71 participants analyze the activities carried out by the partner countries this year and coordinate those planned for the next three years. At the same time, topics related to the exchange of experience by foreign evaluators and the new OCC evaluation standards are addressed.

It should be noted that in June, according to the OCC concept, two motorized infantry companies from the Motorized Infantry Brigades "Moldova" and "Dacia" were evaluated by 71 international evaluators from 22 countries: Norway, Azerbaijan, Germany, Moldova, Romania, Georgia, Ukraine, Austria, Finland, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Great Britain, Qatar, Italy, Canada, USA, Northern Macedonia, Sweden and Jordan.

The next evaluation is planned for June 2020 and will take place as part of the "Peace Shield" exercise.

The OCC is a collaborative tool in the Partnership for Peace program, which aims to implement Western standards in the training and evaluation of declared subunits. The CCO offers the Republic of Moldova the opportunity to participate in multinational peacekeeping operations.

The National Army joined the OCC in 2008.