Georgia hosting first defence logistics exercise with NATO, partner forces
Georgian and allied logisticians working in preparation of the LOGDEV exercise last year. Photo: Ministry of Defence of Georgia press office.
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Georgia's Ministry of Defence and armed forces are hosting their partners, including NATO member states, in LOGDEV 19, a multinational exercise aimed at developing logistical capability of their armed forces.
Held in the country for the first time, the drills - formally known as Logistics Development - involve 130 service members from a dozen countries and are led by the Joint Force Development Directorate of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The exercise aims to bring logistical support up to NATO standards and enable us to operate in a multinational environment," Defence Minister Levan Izoria told personnel from participating nations at the opening of the drills earlier today.
Georgia's Defence Ministry added LOGDEV was held to "develop NATO logistics doctrines and utilisation of informational systems" of the alliance.
Unit formation and deployment, provision of logistical support areas of operation and conducting drawdown of troops were among elements of the drills mentioned in the ministry's release. The participating forces use NATO's Allied Deployment and Movement System (ADAMS) in their work.
In the US-led exercise, Georgian Defence Forces are joined by their Caucasus and Black Sea regional partners from Azerbaijan and Ukraine, in addition to Balkan participants Albania, North Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
Finnish and Swedish forces join the drills from northern Europe to round off the list of participants aiming to develop their capacity in the field of supply, transportation, support and more.
The exercise will conclude in Georgia on May 17.
The 13th battalion of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of Georgia is the third Georgian battalion which has completed trainings within the joint US and Georgian Defence Readiness Programme (GDRP).
Georgian service members are among over 9,000 troops from over a dozen states involved in the Spring Storm defence drills organised by the Ministry of Defence of Estonia that launched on Monday.
Georgian Defence Forces are celebrating 28 years since their founding, with formal celebrations involving officials and military commanders joined by congratulatory messages from the public today.
Official occasions to mark the date were held in Georgia as well as locations where peacekeepers from the country are serving in international missions, while service members from allied nations offered their messages of support.
Georgian Defence Minister Levan Izoria has viewed the US guided-missile destroyer USS Ross in Batumi earlier today and stated that Georgia-US relations have never been so close.
Starting from 2020 Georgia will join the NATO Multinational Military Policy Battalion, composed of military police units of Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.
The Battalion, or its elements, were allowed to be deployed from 2013 to any area of NATO operations where the need arises for coordinated multi-national police activities.
The British Embassy to Georgia has financed Georgian Defence Forces with 100,000 GEL ($31,325/€28,532) to bolster measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus within the army, says the Ministry of Defence.