Brazilian Navy pay visit to Bovington on fact-finding tour (From Dorset Echo)

Brazilian Navy pay visit to Bovington on fact-finding tour

12:30pm Monday 31st December 2012 in News

MEMBERS of the Brazilian Navy paid a visit to Bovington as a part of a fact-finding tour of military sites.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), part of the MOD, and Babcock International Group gave members of the foreign force an insight into delivering facilities and services for the UK’s armed forces across the south of England.

The three-day visit to five sites was organised for Brazilian defence lead on infrastructure Rear Admiral Helio Mourinho Garcia and his colleagues. It covered projects being considered as part of an infrastructure improvement programme for the Brazilian armed services.

The visit aimed to brief the South American visitors on Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts in Hard FM – the physical maintenance of buildings and equipment – and Soft FM – the provision of support services, such as cleaning and catering.

Bill Yardley, DIO Head of Projects, said: “DIO’s priority is to support our armed forces as they prepare for operations. We assess the military requirements and translate these into maintenance and support contracts, before working closely with industry partners such as Babcock to deliver what is required.”

One day provided an insight into how Debut Services’ Regional Prime Contract South West team supports the British Army in the training of Armoured Fighting Vehicle personnel at Bovington. The trip to the Armour Centre included a visit to the tank training area.