Saber Knight exercise kicks off in Southern Estonia
Saber Knight, an international command post exercise during which nearly 100 headquarters personnel of Estonia's 2nd Infantry Brigade will practice cooperation with the headquarters of Latvian, Lithuanian and Danish brigades, began at Taara Army Base in Võru on Saturday.
"Our brigade joined the Danish Division's training cycle at the beginning of this year," said Col. Eero Rebo, commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, adding that participating in the training cycle helps the brigade headquarters improve cooperation with allied units.
"The aim of the Saber Knight exercise is to harmonize the operation of the headquarters of participating units in joint operations," Rebo explained.
More than 700 military personnel from six countries are taking part in the exercise, as the Danish and Baltic brigades will be joined by servicemen from the U.S. and Slovakia.
Saber Knight is a part of the training cycle of the Danish Division during which the planning and conduct of military operations in the Baltics to fend off an attack by a fictitious country called Botnia is rehearsed. Saber Knight is a part of the United States European Command (EUCOM) exercise Saber Strike, which is aimed at rehearsing cooperation between ground and air force units and acceptance of allies.
Estonia has participated in the Danish command post exercise since 2009, when the 1st Infantry Brigade was affiliated with the Danish Division in training. The division is part of NATO's Multinational Corps Northeast, which is prepared to conduct operations in collective defense arising from the evocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, among other things.
Saber Knight will last from May 27 to June 4.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS