The Visitor & Observers Bureau (VOB) is the coordinating point of contact for external visitors who come to VIKING 08. Almost every day there are a number of different visits booked in for both the Enköping and Kungsängen sites.
The visitors are coming mainly to get information about the exercise, to make contacts and to see how the participants are working,” says Mattias Pettersson, the VOB Officer.
Round tours and information
Visitors to VIKING range from local firms and companies in the defence industry to representatives of civil organisations and other units. On Saturday, the Kungsängen and Enköping sites were also visited by 15 military attachés from countries around the world as well as a large delegation from NATO’s Political-Military Steering Committee.
“They are here to see how we exercise and to establish contacts, and after a briefing by Exercise Director Jan-Gunnar Isberg we took them on a round tour to see how the exercise is built up and how the various staff teams work,” says Mattias.
Impressive layout and technology
Pierre Venter works as Military Attaché at South Africa’s embassy in Stockholm and it is the first time he has visited a VIKING exercise.
“South Africa is not taking part in the exercise but for me this is still a new and very interesting experience. It feels almost as if I am on another planet. I am also impressed by the technology and layout of the exercise and I can see that this is an important mechanism and an excellent tool which makes it possible to exercise these complex situations in a cost-effective way,” he says.