Oman to host GCC military exercises

The next joint military exercises for Omani armed forces will be held in 2003 with other GCC countries, an Omani general said yesterday.

Speaking to Gulf News at Shaiafa, the headquarters of Omani-British military exercises, Brigadier Soud Sulaiman Al Habsi, Chief, EXCON Training of the second Saif Sareea games evaluated the exercise, now in its tail end, as successful and said that the Oman Armed Forces would conduct joint and combined exercises with the forces of other brotherly and friendly countries in future.

Both sides said it was a tremendous learning experience and an effective way to reinforce the strong ties between Oman and the UK.

"This was an excellent opportunity for us to test our logistics, equipment and ability to tackle harsh terrain and after the first 10 days or so, our troops were remarkably acclimatised," Lt.-Col. David Brown, Chief Operations, UK, said.

"Both countries brought with them different skills to the exercise and the activity has led to a pooling of talents to better equip the forces in future. We value the experience and have learnt a great deal from our Omani counterparts."

The first Saif Sareea exercise was held in 1986, but Lt.-Col. Brown feels that since then there have been changes in strategy and execution they are now more suited to soldiering with modern equipment and there is a lot of political play now which was not the case earlier.

Colonel Nasser Al Harthy, Army Commander Spokesman for the Saif Sareea 2 said the forces have also taken care to adhere to strict environmental norms.