Saber Strike 2015 to kick off in Lithuania
Approximately 6,000 personnel from 13 countries will participate in the US Army Europe (USAEUR) led joint multinational Exercise Saber Strike 15, which will take place in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in June 8-19.
Saber Strike is a long-standing U.S. Army Europe-led cooperative training exercise conducted annually since 2010. The aim of the exercise is to improve the cooperation and capabilities of the participating nations for future contingency operations.
This year's exercise objectives facilitate cooperation amongst Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The exercise trains participants on command and control as well as interoperability with regional partners. The exercise will consist of field and situational training exercises conducted in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, joint tactical air controller training in Estonia, and a command post exercise conducted in Lithuania.
Lithuania, the host nation for this year's exercise, will hold the opening ceremony at Nemenčinė Training Area, June 8.
Saber Strike 15 will be the national level certification for the Baltic Battalion to prepare for the NATO Response Force certification exercise Trident Juncture, which will be held in fall 2015. The Baltic Battalion is a joint contribution of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to NATO.
Saber Strike 15 also features the integration of US close air support with partner nation ground forces and a demonstration of US air deployment of forces and equipment. All activities will feature joint, multinational training among the participating nations.
Editor: S. Tambur