The ceremony for the transfer of authority between the battalion-type Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams (OMLT), the second and the third rotation, took place on August 15, in Camp Apache from Zabul Province, Afghanistan.
About 40 military from the 1st Mechanized Brigade 'Vasile Lupu', constituents of the battalion-type OMLT team, have received the responsibility to train and counsel the Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers on operational planning and use of forces in various kinds of military actions, aiming at reaching an operational level able to allow them to independently carry out the missions, without ISAF's military support.
The activity was attended by Colonel Dan-Florin Grecu, the Chief of the Liaison Team at Regional Command South (RC South) and Senior National Representative for RC South, Commander of the national contingent and Deputy Commander for NATO operations of the Combined Team-Zabul, Colonel Dorin Blaiu, the Chief of Staff of Combined Team-Zabul, LTC Dragos Iacob, commanders of Romanian and US military structures in Zabul Province.
By the military from the two teams also participated ANA representatives, Major General Jamaludin Sayeed, the 2nd Brigade Commander together with officers from the brigade's staff.
The ceremony was open with a moment of remembrance in the memory of the Romanian, American and Afghan soldiers who lost their lives on duty in Afghanistan and continued with the play of the Romanian Anthem and the reports delivered by the two commanders, Maj Ioan Nicolae si LTC Relu Negut.
The military from the battalion-type Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams (OMLT), the second rotation, have been awarded NATO/ISAF Medal for Operations in Afghanistan as an appreciation of their remarkable results got in accomplishing the entrusted mission.

MoND Press Office