Watan Exercise 2023 Kicks Off on November 6

 

 

Doha, October 25 (QNA) - Under the patronage of HE Minister of Interior and Commander of Lekhwiya Force Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the security authorities in the country are organizing the "Watan 2023" exercise during the period from Nov. 6-8, with the participation of the military and civilian agencies in the country.

In a press conference held at the Lekhwiya Force headquarters, Director of Public Relations at Ministry of Interior (MOI) and Head of the Media Unit of Watan 2023 Exercise Brigadier Abdullah Khalifa Al Muftah said that the exercise aims to raise and test readiness in normal and emergency situations during mega sporting events and activities that are organized in the country. This is to measure the speed of response to various events and activate the mechanism of command, control, and joint cooperation to achieve integration of roles and implement the required tasks as quickly as possible, in addition to enhancing close cooperation, exchanging experiences, and identifying the best procedures among the participating parties.

The Watan 2023 exercise includes office and field exercises that address events and situations expected to occur through the diversity and progression of exercise scenarios based on all types of potential risks and challenges after studying and selecting them by specialists and experts in the fields covered by the exercise in its edition this year.

Brigadier Al Muftah added that the previous Watan exercises yielded many positive results and learnt lessons that were used within the security and public safety plans in coordination with civil authorities, which contributed to the success of securing and hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. He pointed out that the previous editions of the exercise received local, regional, and international media attention, which indicates the role of the media as an essential partner in the success of the exercise by highlighting its objectives and expected outcomes and showcasing the integration of roles and responsibilities between the relevant authorities.

Brigadier Al Muftah praised the cooperation shown by all parties participating in the Watan exercise, whether military, civilian, or from the private sector.

For his part, assistant commander of Lekhwiya Force for supply and administration operations and commander of Watan 2023 exercise Lt. Col. Mubarak Sherida Al Kaabi stressed that the current edition of Watan exercise witnesses the participation of all military authorities and more than 30 institutions, authorities, and government agencies, in addition to the private sector of a security and service nature.

During the press conference, he said that the exercise aims to measure the plans, procedures, and readiness of the agencies and raise the level of joint work. The exercise also seeks to achieve other goals, including measuring the speed of response of all agencies, activating the joint leadership system in emergency events, strengthening the communication system between all agencies, and experiencing the normal tasks and emergency situations of the participating entities. In addition, the exercise aims to test all systems to work in more than one event at the same time, strengthen the logistical work mechanism in emergency events and joint work, and stand on proactive measures to reduce risks.

He added that the exercise committee was keen to coordinate and choose the sites in a way that did not affect the course of the public's daily life and advised everyone to cooperate with the security personnel and choose alternative methods if necessary. He pointed out that the exercise seeks to achieve a number of outcomes, the most prominent of which are identifying and strengthening the positives and improving procedures and communication mechanisms between all concerned parties.

For his part, commander of the command, control and scenario preparation unit in the Watan 2023 exercise Muhammed Ahmed Jaber Abdullah reviewed the general timeline for the exercise, which included six stages, including preparing all files for the exercise and determining its locations, coming up with the media plan, command approval of the scenarios, preparing the instruction booklet and operations order, activating the evaluation unit, preparing the exercise sites, circulating the instruction booklet and operations order, holding office exercises and implementing the field exercise, coming up with the outcomes of the exercise, presenting the final summary, and submitting the results to the leadership.

He pointed out that the office exercises that precede the field exercise will be held during the period from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1.

Regarding the nature of the scenarios that will be included in the office exercises, he explained that they simulate emergency situations and incidents, scenarios for organizational events, malfunctions in systems and programs, and scenarios that simulate protection systems, health care, and other scenarios.

Regarding the field exercise sites, Major Muhammed Ahmed Jaber Abdullah confirmed that the exercise sites include land and sea sites, vital military and service facilities, land, sea and air ports, tourist sites, in addition to operating rooms, residential areas, and main roads. (QNA)