[ad_1]
The smoke from the grenade travels in the strong wind over the rocks of Stora Rävholmen and there are blows and blows from machine guns hidden in the crevices around it. At the highest point on the island, hundreds of people, almost all in uniform, are trying to keep up as the Swedish Amphibious Regiment practices in front of an audience.
– Here’s my office! Where sea meets land, says a proud lieutenant colonel, Andreas Holmberg, with a loud voice to be heard in the storm and his hand slightly raised to protect his gaze in the strong sun.
He is the commander of the amphibious battalion which is already in Gothenburg, but which is controlled from Stockholm and Berga, as there is only one such regiment in the country. Still. A political majority have said they want to create a new amphibious regiment right here in Gothenburg, but the talks have focused, as is well known, on other issues, so the final decision has not yet been made.
That’s why, in part, this exercise is taking place right now, right here. To press.
– I need another place to produce the war units of the future, and this is the best, says Colonel Patrik Gardesten, head of the Berga Amphibious Regiment.
Colonel Patrik Gardesten, head of the Berga Amphibious Regiment, is happy to hand over his forces on the west coast to a new independent unit in Gothenburg.
Photo: Tomas Ohlsson
Amphibious units must be a link between the army and the navy. It is about defending the coast, ports, inlets and waterways. Colonel Gardesten, in the meeting before the boat trip, described the nature of his mission as double. On the east coast it is about defending Swedish interests against foreign power, on the west coast it is about securing trade, supplies and exports.
If or when, as everyone here says, there will be a new Amphibious Regiment in Gothenburg, it will be called Älvsborg Amf Regiment 4, as proposed by the Berga chief. Then he will resign from the leadership and the commander of the West Swedish battalion, Andreas Holmberg, will have a new superior and hundreds of new colleagues.
Andreas Holmberg is the head of the amphibious battalion in Gothenburg and hopes to find new colleagues soon. Here he is seen in his “office”, “where the sea meets the land”.
Photo: Tomas Ohlsson
– There will be 400 new jobs in Gothenburg and 300 new recruits per year. But most importantly, there will be a robust presence, with better local knowledge of this unique part of the country. We can strengthen the protection of shipping, says Andreas Holmberg.
“20 seconds!” shouts a soldier and stands facing north at Stora Rävholmen. Now the patrol boats have finally removed a kitesurfer from the safety zone and the planned final can be carried out.
“Note!” yells the man painted green and points with his straight arms an area in the sea. Almost silently, a giant pillar of water and mud from the bottom shoots up into the sky. A mine explodes as a powerful illustration of Colonel Gardesten’s message for the day.
– We are not a military shipwreck here in Gothenburg. We practice and train today. Right now we are in a phase where we are working hard to increase our capacity. If we get the go-ahead, we can scale quickly, says Patrik Gardesten.
Here you can read more news from western Sweden
