Georgian soldiers take part in US-led Saber Guardian drill
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Friday, July 7
Over one hundred Georgian soldiers from the 12th Infantry Battalion will leave for Bulgaria and Romania in mid-summer to take part in the annual Saber Guardian drill, which will also enable them to better prepare for the upcoming NATO-led Noble Partner exercise.
Saber Guardian is a US European Command/US Army Europe-led annual exercise taking place in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria in the summer.
This exercise involves more than 25,000 service members from over 20 allied and partner nations.
“The largest of the Black Sea Region exercises, Saber Guardian 17, is a premier training event for US Army Europe and participating nations that will build readiness and improve interoperability under a unified command, executing a full range of military missions to support the security and stability of the Black Sea Region,” US European Command states.
Georgian soldiers will participate in the exercise between July 18 and 20.
About 150 Georgian soldiers will take part in the exercise this year.
The Ministry added that the exercise serves the aim to prepare soldiers for Noble Partner 2017 drills.
Exercise Noble Partner is a bilateral effort focused on enhancing US and Georgian NATO Response Force interoperability in the context of military-to-military relationships.
The exercise focuses on Unified Land Operations and is based on NATO standard operating procedures.
Exercise Noble Partner includes approximately 500 Georgian, 150 British and 650 U.S. service members who incorporate a full range of equipment, including U.S. M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, M119 Light Towed Howitzers and several wheeled support vehicles.
Alongside US forces, Georgian forces will operate their T-72 Main Battle Tanks, BMP-2 Infantry Combat Vehicles and several wheeled-support vehicles.
