The Joint Special Operations Command oversees the training of personnel from the Senegalese National Gendarmerie’s Intervention Unit

• This Cooperative Security Exercise has combined training in tactical medicine, marksmanship, close-quarters combat, breaching, the use of drones and operational planning

Members of the Army’s Special Operations Command (MOE) have carried out a new Cooperative Security Activity (ASC) in Thiès (Senegal), aimed at the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN, by its French acronym).

Over a period of three weeks, the Spanish military has trained around 50 men and women from the GIGN’s Operational Teams as part of a training programme designed to hone various skills relating to the operations of special forces units. The group brought together personnel with varying levels of experience, ranging from veteran members to new recruits, a factor which has encouraged the exchange of experiences during the various activities.

The training included theoretical and practical elements of tactical medicine, as well as several days devoted to combat and precision shooting, aimed at consolidating individual knowledge and procedures before moving on to more complex exercises.

A significant part of the programme was devoted to close-quarters combat (CQB). The participants practised procedures for operating indoors and securing rooms, gradually incorporating breaching techniques and subsequently applying these procedures to exercises carried out from outside the building.

The training also included various specialisms and training relating to the use of drones, skills which were subsequently incorporated into the CQB exercises. This progression made it possible to combine different areas of knowledge and procedures within increasingly comprehensive training scenarios.

The gradual integration of individual training, tactical procedures and planning has made it possible to develop a training cycle designed to integrate different skills within a single operation.

During the final phase of the activity, the training focused on operational planning. The students applied the knowledge they had acquired over the previous weeks to prepare for a final exercise, in which they had to integrate the various skills they had worked on throughout the programme.

Cooperative Security Activities

Cooperative Security Activities help to strengthen the capabilities of Senegalese units through the exchange of knowledge, experience, tactics, techniques and procedures, whilst also fostering closer professional ties between the Spanish Armed Forces and the Senegalese security forces. In particular, the training carried out in Thiès is a further demonstration of Spain and Senegal’s commitment to bilateral cooperation and to enhancing their capabilities to address shared security challenges, based on mutual interest, trust and collaboration.