Soldiers with the 173rd Airborne Brigade mistakenly seized and secured a working olive oil factory in Bulgaria as part of a large-scale NATO exercise aimed at deterring Russian military aggression in eastern Europe.
“On May 11, soldiers entered and cleared a building next to the airfield that they believed was part of the training area, but that was occupied by Bulgarian civilians operating a private business,” according to a U.S. Army Europe and Africa statement released today. “No weapons were fired at any time during this interaction.”
Officials said that during the exercise, soldiers simulated entering and clearing multiple bunkers and structures across the decommissioned Cheshnegirovo airfield in Bulgaria.
The statement said the Army would “implement rigorous procedures to clearly define our training areas and prevent this type of incident in the future.”
“We sincerely apologize to the business and its employees,” officials wrote. “We always learn from these exercises and are fully investigating the cause of this mistake.”
Bugs Marlowe
Article URL : https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2021/06/01/oops-paratroopers-raid-bulgarian-olive-oil-factory-by-mistake/