Margarita Robles has traveled to Alicante to visit the facilities of the Land Army Special Operations Command (MOE), located in the 'Ensign Rojas Navarrete', in the town of Rabasa.
Robles, who already visited this unit last April, wanted to thank the troops of the Army for their level of preparation and their continuous updating to face new challenges and threats.
"Spain wants to have the leadership in peace missions both in the European Union and in NATO, for which the preparation and physical form of the members of this unit is essential," said Robles.
In this regard, the minister has advanced that tomorrow she will take to the Council of Ministers the peace missions in which the Spanish Armed Forces will participate in 2020.
As for an increase in the presence of women in peace missions, the head of Defense has responded to journalists "that the role of women is like that of men; hence we have to have well-prepared men and women to guarantee peace and security in the world. "
Along these lines, the minister has insisted that it is necessary to have armed forces, especially in special operations, fully prepared in the new frameworks that introduce topics such as Artificial Intelligence or Robotics, but "also in the knowledge of reality social and cultural of the terrorist field ", referring to the prominence that the United Nations recognizes women to provide solutions to conflicts.
During the visit, Robles was able to know first-hand the details of the latest operations in which this unit is involved, in addition to touring a photographic exhibition on the missions of the MOE.
Then, he has moved to the combat polygon in urbanized areas, where they have witnessed a dynamic demonstration – within a tactical assumption – by a special operations team.
Specifically, the unit's personnel have demonstrated their capabilities and carried out the simulation of an infiltration and an assault on a terrorist enclave to obtain intelligence data.
Robles has been able to witness how the operation would be managed and, finally, how the injured would be evacuated from the risk zone and how a remote diagnosis would be made through telemedicine.
During the visit, she has been accompanied by the Secretary of State for Defense, Angel Olivares; the Chief of Staff of the Army, Army General Francisco Javier Varela Salas, and by the Chief of the Special Operations Command, Brigadier General Raimundo Rodríguez Roca.
In the process of transformation
The MOE is a single command in the Army, as it brings together 100% of the Army's Special Operations capabilities, and provides more than 70% of the Total Special Operations capabilities of the Armed Forces.
The recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Sahel, etc., have highlighted the relevance of special operations as a versatile, flexible, little intrusive and effective tool in the fight against the enemy of the 21st century, international terrorism in its Multiple and varied forms.
The Special Operations Command, in addition, is in the process of transformation to anticipate a change of era, characterized by a dramatic technological proliferation and a permanent competition between great powers.
The new challenges and challenges require a strategic deployment with new capabilities, especially those aimed at obtaining Strategic Intelligence.
This initiative is called MOE 35 and is considered as an anticipation tool with greater human capital (quantity and quality) and more cutting-edge technology.
In this context, special capacity teams have been launched. Some of these teams will be experts in local languages and incorporate women to help achieve greater empathy with the populations.
These teams, composed of men and women, will have outstanding knowledge and skills, as well as a very defined preparation in different cultures, customs and local languages, communication, negotiation, etc. They will be especially useful in the tasks of military assistance that Spain has been carrying out in different areas of operations.