The Belgian Armed Forces' Special Operations Regiment will conduct an evacuation exercise codenamed 'Storm Tide' from 13 to 24 May.
During the exercise, aimed at practicing to evacuate citizens from an overseas crisis area, around 900 soldiers from the army, air force and medical corps will train mainly in Hainaut, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
'Storm Tide' will be held primarily in Mons, Tournai, Ath and Chièvres. Civilians and reservists will be evacuated by A400M aircraft to the Châlon Vatry 'advanced transit' base in France.
Some 600 students studying 'Defence and Security' will be included among those to be evacuated. They will come from schools in Irchonwelz (ITCF Renée Joffroy), Grammont (GO Atheneum), Namur (Asty Moulin) and Mons (Académie provinciale des Métiers).
“We must be ready to execute these missions swiftly,” Colonel Frédéric Linotte, Commanding Officer of the Special Operations Regiment, said at a press conference in Mons on Tuesday.
“The strategic environment has deteriorated in recent years, due in part to coups, revolutions, and territorial annexations," he said, adding that "2021 was marked by an evacuation from Afghanistan, 2022 by the Ukraine crisis, and 2023 by the crisis in Gaza."
"Our exercise is thus ambitious, with, among other things, over 1,500 participants,” he stressed.
