The fourth iteration of Georgia and U.S. Army Europe’s multinational training exercise began on Wednesday, August 1 with more than 3,000 NATO and partner forces taking part.
Forces from 13 countries will participate in Noble Partner 18: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“The goal of the multinational military exercise ‘Noble Partner 2018’ is to improve skills in stability, defensive and offensive operations, increase interoperability between the armed forces of participating countries and contribute to security of the Black Sea region,” the Ministry of Defence of Georgia said last month.
Noble Partner 18 runs August 1-15 at Vaziani and Camp Norio Training Areas in Georgia.
Strykers and troops from the U.S. Army 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment arrived at the training areas on July 28. Participants include 1,300 Georgian and 1,170 U.S. service members and more than 500 others from the other 11 nations. Georgia’s MoD said an increased number of German armored vehicles will also take part.
U.S. Army Europe said the exercises this year will include a tactical road march, helicopter attack operation, air assault, and reception staging and onward movement (RSOM).