“It’s going well, but it could be better.” this is the prevailing feeling Among 55 Ukrainian soldiers Since February 15, they have been training for the management and maintenance of battle tanks at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza. Leopard. The training, led by Captain Contreras, will end on Wednesday, March 15, with departure to Poland, and from there they will enter Ukrainian territory.
These 55 soldiers—some professionals and others reservists—are already at the forefront of the war, and fifteen of them are mechanics (mechanics, electronics, and weapons). and the other 40 belong to ten military crews. The Zaragoza base had 10 tanks, six of which belonged to the San Gregorio Maneuvering Range and four to the Toledo Infantry Headquarters.
The instruction has two stages; the first individual “tactical corps” for drivers, loaders, shooters and bosses, and the second already united “as a crew”. In this process, “simulation” is of great importance. “Actions that cannot be performed on the battlefield” like shooting exercises. In parallel, the Zaragoza Enemy Unit was also used to give it a “touch of realism”.
The tanks that they trained in the capital of Aragon and with which they will act together in Ukraine, Leopard 2A4they are “quite superior” to other tanks “deployed on stage”. “It has good range and is equipped with thermal cameras,” said Captain Contreras.
There was no language barrier as there were translators in this working group consisting of one hundred people. “They quickly picked up the vocabulary missing in this area”. In addition, two facilitators, who were military translators, assisted the latter.