The visit of Felipe VI to the 8,445 employees of the Armed Forces deployed in Valencia, has left very emotional moments. The King has visited the Bétera base, from which all the troops, the amphibious ship ‘Galicia’ and the Valencia Fair are coordinated. On one of these visits, the military conveyed their gratitude to the monarch “for coming here, for being with us and giving us the encouragement to move forward and to continue being with the people of Valencia and helping them in every way we can.”
The captain general of the Army, Navy and Air Force is “satisfied” with the work being carried out by the men and women of the Armed Forces deployed in Valencia. Accompanied by the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, Felipe VI highlighted that the Armed Forces “work beyond their capabilities day and night, 24 hours a day.”
In one attention to the media With questions included, something unprecedented in the communication from the Head of State, he highlighted the “spirit” of working “shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow, hand to hand, but all with the same heart.” The monarch recalled that the situation they face has no “precedent” and has highlighted “the complexity of each moment of an emergency” of the magnitude of the one experienced in the province of Valencia.
The head of state, who confirmed his second visit with the Queen to the affected towns, which took place this Tuesday morning in Vozpópuli, stated that “from the beginning we wanted to convey that the desire to be present in various ways in all affected places will be a constant in the near future”. Felipe VI has advanced that they face this visit – after the altercations recorded in the one carried out five days after the DANA in Paiporta – “with the same spirit as anyone, taking into account the circumstances that are being experienced here, and aware that “We each have to be in our place.”
The role of the Army “24 hours a day”
The King has applauded the task that the Army troops are carrying out “with their means and with such a great situation of need.” “I transmit to them the confidence that I had from the beginning, that I still have, and that is also transmitted to me by seeing how they work; also seeing the response of the citizens; the gratitude they show for what they are doing, sometimes even above their possibilities, day and night, 24 hours a day, and in the face of all unexpected needs or adapting to each phase of the emergency,” he expressed in statements to the media.
According to the King, “it is what the commanders have wanted to convey from the beginning; it is also that understanding of the complexity, because this has been unprecedented, of the complexity of each moment of an emergency as has been experienced here.” Felipe VI has highlighted that the spirit and morale of the military is “very high” because “there is no greater satisfaction than seeing that people are being helped and that, in addition, people very close to them are being helped, because it is an operation without unprecedented in national territory, of the use of a force of such magnitude”.
Conversation with the military
The experience for the military, Felipe VI has said, is “absolutely extraordinary professionally but also humanly.” Along these lines, he has referred to an experience that one of the soldiers has told him, of which he has not gone into details: “It is a case of many that there may be; of knowing how to react at a given moment in a sudden way, on the fly, with flexibility, with confidence in your abilities and with a clear will to care for someone who is at risk and in need.
Lieutenant Colonel Briones, chief of force of the air contingent deployed in Valencia, explained to the media that the spirit of the soldiers is “good.” According to him, “the people who leave want to stay to work more.” The Bétera Command Post is where command and control of the activities that the Air Force units are carrying out in support of the intervention.
12 days on the ground
The first troops arrived on November 1, two days after DANA, to carry out “very varied” activities: from collecting rubble, cleaning mud, interventions by firefighters, night surveillance patrols and searches for missing people, in support of the EMU.
“There have been many interventions, I wouldn’t dare say how many, because there are 600 men and women who have very long hours; they are searching for many hours, but it is true that the Air Force personnel are doing it very selflessly for the people of Valencia,” he detailed.
Source: www.vozpopuli.com
