The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, dedicated yesterday her first trip of 2024 to the military base of Cerro Muriano, headquarters of the Brigade Guzmán el Bueno X (BRI X), which since January 1st has a combat unit at the disposal of NATO, and where she was interested in the recent death of two soldiers of this base during some maneuvers.
As reported by the Ministry of Defense on the occasion of Robles’ visit, “the BRI X faces this year with its sights set once again on international missions”, with three “major milestones: the training mission to Ukrainians, the commitment to NATO and the deployments to Lebanon and Latvia”.
Since January 1, BRI X has had a combat unit at NATO’s disposal, “ready to go anywhere and at very short notice,” the Ministry continued. This very high readiness force, which mainly serves collective defense missions, is composed of a mechanized armored tactical group, a field artillery battery, an anti-aircraft artillery battery and a sapper company.
In addition, this brigade, which has some 3,500 troops (of which around 9% are women), has begun to generate and prepare a contingent for the UN Libre Hidalgo mission in Lebanon, where it is scheduled to be deployed next month. of November. Additionally, another contingent will be deployed in Latvia in January 2025.
During the visit, Robles expressed her recognition “to those who are part of this Brigade, which is one of the most modern, powerful and decisive units of the Army, providing support in missions such as Lebanon or Latvia, where it is planned to be deployed in this 2024 and early 2025.”
Brigade X is part of the Castillejos Division and consists mainly of a headquarters, two infantry regiments, an armored regiment, a field artillery group, a sapper battalion and a logistics group. Led by Brigadier General Ignacio Olazábal, the BRI X was the first Spanish unit to join the Eurocorps and one of the first to take part in operations abroad. Since then it has participated and participates in peace missions outside our borders in scenarios such as Bosnia or Iraq.
Separately, Margarita Robles remembered the two soldiers who, “sadly,” lost “their lives a few days ago,” in reference to Corporal Miguel Ángel Jiménez Andújar and soldier Carlos León Rico, who drowned during some aquatic maneuvers in Cerro Murriano. After this incident, the captain who was directing the maneuvers was relieved of command of the company. “We make ourselves available to him, we are going to collaborate with justice without reservation,” Robles said about the investigation into the events that is ongoing.
Margarita Robles held a meeting with the colleagues of the deceased, to whom she conveyed her condolences and all her support to clarify the facts. “If there have been errors, they have to be known, we owe it to the corporal, to the soldier and to his families,” continued the minister, who demanded “maximum transparency” about these events.
