The primary mission of the training section is to support the Belgian-Netherlands mine counter measures vessels (MCMV) during their work up period in a simulated mine threat environment.
After a complete refit and prior to being operationally ready, the BEL/NLD MCMV’s are subjected to a series of tests and trials. Over a 6 month period, vessel and crew will adhere to strict guidelines known as the “Safety and Readiness Check” (SARC).
The SARC’s are numbered from 0 to 6, after succeeding the SARC 3 the ship will be declared Ready for Sea (RFS). The next step is the SARC 4 where the ship receives the certification Ready For Exercise (RFE), this means that they can participate in NATO exercises, though they are still one step away from being able to participate in a real MCM operation. The last control is done during the SARC 6, in a multi-threat scenario at the Mine counter measure Operation Sea Train (MOST) in Zeebrugge. After a successful completion, the vessel will earn the “Ready For Duty” (RFD) status and is ready to be deployed anywhere at any time.
EGUERMIN is responsible for the execution of the SARC 4: during this period the section training spends 3 weeks emphasizing the safe execution of MCM operations.
Crew and vessel are evaluated on:
- The execution of systems check.
- The preparation of an MCM operation
- The correct use of procedures in an MCM environment.
- The use of all sensors in different environmental conditions.
- The safe use of all weapon systems.
Those evaluations are executed in the simulator and at sea. EGUERMIN possesses a state of the art simulator capable of testing ship’s crew in any MCM environment using their on board systems and weapons.