17 April 2002

Ambassadors to NATO: Romania’s 812th Infantry Battalion

By Radu Tudor, JDW correspondent, Bucharest,
additional reporting by janes.com editor Peter Felstead

One of the first Romanian military units to become NATO-compatible, the 812th Infantry Battalion is located in the city of Bistrita in northern Transylvania. As part of Romania’s High Readiness Forces, between 1996 and 1999 the 812th served as part of the UNAVEM III and MONUA peacekeeping missions in Angola, completing a total of 945 missions in four years and receiving the UN medal. Since November 2001, a company from the 812th has been deployed with the NATO-led international peace-keeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) as part of the 9^th Belurokos (Belgium-Luxembourg-Romania – Kosovo) detachment.

The KFOR contingent

Based in Nothing Hill camp, 2km south of Leposavic in the north of Kosovo province, the 812^th Infantry Battalion company currently deployed with KFOR’s 9^th Belurokos detachment has responsibility for an area measuring 230km sq. Now comprising 89 military personnel (86 personnel before 24 March), the Romanian company provides security, patrols the main roads and paths and surveys the border with Serbia using both temporary and permanent observation posts.

More specifically, its missions include patrols both on foot and in vehicles, setting up traffic control points, observation of the administrative limits of the province, participation in arms-gathering operations, the guarding and observation of the area’s main supply road, and supporting operations conducted by the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) as well as the various humanitarian and non-governmental organizations in the region. These missions are fulfilled either independently or in co-operation with the armed forces of the other KFOR participants.

The company works under the operational control of a parent Belgian Battle Group, based in Leposavic. At this base, along with Belgian and Romanian troops, there is also a reconnaissance platoon from Luxembourg. An NCO and two soldiers act as the Romanian liaison cell between the 812^th’s company and the battle group.

To perform its patrols in Kosovo, the 812^th’s contingent has eight Romanian-made B-33 ‘Zimbrul’ eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and a four-wheeled TABC-79 reconnaissance APC. Three DAC 6 x 6 trucks and a maintenance workshop DAC 6 x 6 truck are also with the contingent along with three jeeps and an ambulance vehicle.

A couple of HF band radio transceiver sets, installed in ARO jeeps, allows the 812^th’s contingent to communicate with the rest of the world, while for tactical communications VHF equipment is used.

The 812^th: structure

Established in 1995 under the command of the 81^st Mechanised Brigade, the 812^th Infantry Battalion in Bistrita comprises three infantry companies, a support company, a logistics company, a 120mm mortar battery and a mixed anti-tank battery.

In Bistrita, the battalion staff is based around Western standard modules: personnel (S1), intelligence (S2), operations and training (S3), logistics (S4) and communications and signals (S6).

Daily training focuses on four key operational environments: peace time, internal crisis, war time, and post conflict situations.

Equipment

The 812^th’s standard APC is the B33 ‘Zimbrul’, a Romanian version of the Russian BTR-70 8 x 8 powered by a single supercharged diesel engine. Other armoured vehicles include TABC-79 reconnaissance APCs and BRDM-2 armoured cars armed with 9K11 Malyuta (AT-3 ‘Sagger’) missiles. The standard transport vehicles for the battalion are the DAC 6 x 6 5,000kg truck and the ARO 4 x 4 jeep.

In addition to the ‘Sagger’-armed BRDM-2s, which operate with the support company, the 812^th’s other anti-armour assets comprise the 9K113 (AT-5 ‘Spandrel’) anti-tank missile and the Romanian version of the SPG-9 73mm recoilless rifle.

The standard infantry weapon of the battalion is a 5.45mm version of the Romanian-produced AKM assault rifle. Additional infantry weapons include Dragonov-type 7.62mm sniper rifles, 7.62mm PK machine guns, 7.62mm RPK light machine guns, RPK-74 light machine guns, AGA-40 tripod-mounted automatic and AG-40 rifle-mounted 40mm grenade launchers, RPG-7 rocket launchers and 82mm mortars.

Future interoperability

The possibility of Romanian units being integrated within multinational forces organised according to the ‘Combined Joint Task Force’ concept has increased in recent years due to Romania’s headquarters being restructured along NATO lines and Romania’s participation in peacetime, modularly structured operations. At the same time, the Romanian military has worked hard to create the premises necessary for participation in NATO-led peace support operations, with full NATO membership of course being the ultimate goal.

Looking at the Romanian military as a whole, the four infantry battalions trained for peace support missions (the 812^th in Bistrita plus battalions in Bucharest, Craiova and Iasi), along with the 96th Engineering Battalion, the Campaign Military Hospital and numerous officers trained in various UN and NATO courses, are more than able to participate in international peacekeeping operations.

Moreover, due to the 812^th’s accumulated military experience and training, elements from the battalion may well take part in Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ in Afghanistan, since the Romanian government has extended its offer of personnel beyond the 48 soldiers currently serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on policing and air transport support duties.

Since 20 February 1991, more than 6,000 Romanian military personnel have served on peacekeeping operations worldwide. The 812 is currently at the forefront of these efforts, and will no doubt see further international deployments in the years to come.

Click here to access video of the 812^th training in Bistrita, Transylvania.

Click here to access images from 812^th in Kosovo picture gallery

Click here to access images of the 812^th training in Bistrita, Transylvania.

Click here to Romanian armed forces video of operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan.