The general commander of the unit assures “to be prepared” in case they receive “the order to embark” and “go where they tell us”
The general commander of the Marine Infantry, division general, Rafael Roldán Tudela, assured today Friday that they still do not have any type of mobilization notice for a possible deployment of his unit if necessary due to the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. . But he said that “we are prepared and pending in case at any moment they give us the order to embark to go where they tell us.” Due to its condition of being “an immediate deployment force”, it offered its services because “you can always count on the Marine Corps”, “We will give an immediate response as we did at the time in Lebanon and many other places”, he insisted.
Roldán Tudela made these statements after the military ceremony commemorating the 485th anniversary of the founding of the Marine Corps, held at the ‘Santiago Apóstol’ esplanade of the ‘General Albacete y Fuster’ Marine Corps School, in Cartagena. To questions from the media, he confessed to living this conflict situation with “great concern” and as they still do not have any type of intervention order “we continue with our normal activity, but be vigilant in case at any time we have to embark where it is necessary” .
collaboration with NATO
Currently, they have an operational security team on board the ‘Blas de Lezo’ frigate, which is now on its way to the eastern Mediterranean, and another on the ‘Meteoro’ Maritime Action Ship (BAM). Until September, the latter leads NATO’s Number 2 Naval Countermine Measures Group, whose main areas of action are the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. They monitor and control acts of piracy, among other crimes.
Around three hundred military personnel participated in the act of celebration, from different sections, including the Special Naval Warfare Force, the Cynological Unit and the Tercio de Levante, which on Holy Tuesdays accompanies Saint Peter in the procession. It was chaired by Rafael Roldán Tudela, who was accompanied by Chief Admiral of the Arsenal of Cartagena, Pedro Luis de la Puente.
During the act, there was a transmission ceremony of the historical legacy of the Marine Infantry Corps and the fourth commandment of the decalogue of the oldest unit in Spain was recited. The ‘Friends of the Marine Corps’ awards were also given to the president of the San Antonio Catholic University (UCAM), José Luis Mendoza, to the president of the Royal Order of San Cristóbal de la Vega Baja, Antonio Marín Andrés de Quesada, and to the Association of San Pedro Apóstol of the California Brotherhood, whose award was collected by José Blas Martínez. The act ended with a tribute to the fallen and the Heroic March of the unit was sung.