Operation Odin

Russian paratroopers on patrol near Sofia (Unknown date)

In Operation Odin, Task force "Reaper" were deployed to the small island Republic of Altis and Stratis, where they would will the shoes of quick response units to keep the growing instabilities stable on the island.

## Summery

### Republic of Altis

The small island Republic of Altis and Stratis is a Greek island located 58 kilometers south west of Cyprus in the Mediterranean sea. The formerly British colonial island got its independence from the formerly British Empire in the end of the 21st century. Sharing the same economy of similar small countries in the region, their economy is based around fishing exports and tourists visiting from northern Europe. Even though they have a relatively small economy, they've been able to maintain an independent military consisting of one national guard regiment and a coast guard fleet.

History on the island dates back to pre-Roman era and being a former Ottoman island and colony of the British Empire lead to the diversity we see on the island today, with Greek Christians taking up the majority of the islands ethnic population. There is also a minority of ethnic Muslims from what remains of Ottoman rule.

### Arab Spring of 2013 and 2014

In 2013, with pro-democratic riots breaking out across Arabic countries lead to political instability in the Arab world, with countries like Syria breaking into a brutal civil war against the oppressive regime of president Bashar al-Assad in 2014. Due to the fighting it lead to a major refugee crisis where people attempt to seek safety in European countries, and the Altis Republic became a pit stop for those looking to continue on to European mainland.
With European countries struggling to take in those in need and with the Altis population rapidly growing, the government in Pyrgos voted to turn the large area of North-eastern Altis into a big refugee camp for those seeking asylum in other countries. The tension between ethnic Greek Christians and the rising Muslim migrants rose due to the size of the refugee camp. Meanwhile, politicians in Pyrgos tried to stabilize the situation by providing basic human needs in the refugee camp, while also trying to send them to the European mainland when the civil wars are over.

That's why it came as a shock in 2018 when the government announced that they were going to start deporting the migrant population off of the island, either to other countries or back to their homeland due to the camps rising weight on the economy. This outraged both Muslims ethnic to the island and Arabic migrants and lead to rise in violence and rioting became a common occurrence. Local inhabitants of the north-western parts were forced to flee south-east to avoid the increasing targeted violence by the riots.

### Military Intervention

The riots quickly got out of control of the local law enforcement, which lead to the Altis military stepping in, announcing full marshal law to take affect on the island and deployed the national guard to the eastern part of the Altis. This, of course, led to more violence and rioting, with several national guard patrols being attacked by armed radical militias. The coastal guard started intercepting boats attempting to smuggle small arms fire and explosives to the islands radical population. After a Greek farmer and his family were killed by a targeted arson, did some locals try to take up arms against the insurgencies, but were quickly put down by the government in fear of sparking a full on civil war.

During all this, Islamic countries like Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia among others, put pressure on the Altis government by demanding the withdrawal of military forces in the northern area of Altis to stop what they thought was religious oppression.

With the growing cost of keeping the refugee camps supplied and military operations, the small fish and tourism based economy predictably suffered a major economic crash. Leading to the Altis government to call for foreign aid to stabilize the republic. After negotiations with several European countries, an agreement was reached between the Republic of Altis and the Russian Federation to send Russian military forces to battle the growing insurgencies and to conduct peacekeeping operations to protect the ethnic Greek population.

Military Task force "Reaper" was sent to the small island republic, with a reconnaissance platoon of 1st Battalion of the 31st Guard air assault brigade as its core to aid local law enforcement, conduct counter-insurgency operations and provide safekeeping for future political resolutions to be held.

## Military presence

#### Friendly Forces

* **Task Force "Reaper":** The Russian Task force, code name "Reaper", consists of the 1st Reconnaissance battalion of the 31st Guard air assault brigade sent to the island as a rapid response formation to conduct military intervention against the IAA. They are quipped with modern Russian gear and vehicles to act as the major military presence on Altis.
* **Altis National Guard (ANG):** The Altis National Guard are the Republic of Altis only army on the island. They are equipped with turn of the century equipment and act as a rear guard and specialized law enforcement for the Task force "Reaper" and the local law enforcement.

#### Enemy Forces

* **Islamic Army of Altis (IAA):** Consisting of local radical Muslims, they pose the largest threat for the Task force. They are capable of constructing IED's and improvised armoured vehicles as well as advanced defense positions. Being funded by other supporters in the ongoing civil wars in the middle east, they are mainly equipped with mid-era Soviet surplus equipment and wear non-distinct uniforms so that they easily blend into the populace.

## Conclusion

### The Pyrgos Conference

After 2 weeks of counter-insurgency operations conducted by Task Force 'Reaper', with Altis National guard units clearing out the last pockets of resistance in the far north-east of the island, has led to the destruction and dispanding of the Islamic Army of Altis (IAA). With the destruction of the IAA officials from both Pyrgos and Moscow called Operation Odin a success, although leaving the small island republic to recover from the economic downfall brought by the war effort.

### Aftermath

During a VDV raid against IAA bombmakers, section Reaper 1-1 found and eliminated an special operators of unknown origin fighting amongst the IAA. The Russian Defence Ministry refuse to acknowledge such a presence. Task Force 'Reaper' was recalled back to Russia and replaced by a military police platoon to aid local law enforcement in controlling the now wartorn island. To keep good relations between the nations, a plan of construct a joint Altis- Russian airbase near the area of the old aviation club will be built to keep a military presence in the mediterranean sea.