NATO marks "a new milestone" with Georgia (VIDEO)

NATO is celebrating its growing ties with Georgia by posting a video showing units from the allied forces participate in training exercises alongside Georgian soldiers.

The one minute video, released yesterday on the NATO webpage, showed Alliance soldiers rub shoulders with Georgian servicemen and jointly participate in simulated drills at training areas in Georgia.

The Alliance troops and the Georgian Armed Forces (GAF) took part in two separate defence exercises in recent weeks, which allowed the Joint Training and Evaluation Centre (JTEC) to conduct its first assessment of combat troops.

The JTEC was opened by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Georgia in 2015. Using simulation and combat training scenarios, the JTEC is designed to improve Georgia’s defence capabilities, said NATO.

The latest exercises, held last week at Camp Norio range in east Georgia, were the first of 11 JTEC rotational training exercises this year.

Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia, William Lahue said this was a "milestone event for the NATO-Georgia relationship".

Watch Georgian and NATO soldiers engage in field training exercises within the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Centre at Camp Norio below:

Georgia’s Minister of Defence Tinatin Khidasheli said the occasion marked a new level of cooperation between Georgia and NATO, while attending the field training exercise at Camp Norio on May 19.

The significance of the joint training was also stressed by NATO. The Alliance released the short video on its official webpage and social network pages on Monday, May 23.

Simultaneous to this, Georgia and its NATO partners from militaries from the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) held the large-scale exercise Noble Partner 2016 at the Vaziani Training Area, 20km outside capital Tbilisi.

The Noble Partner 2016 exercise involved US Army's Abrams main battle tanks (L) and Georgian armoured units at the Vaziani Training Area in Georgia. Photo from the Ministry of Defence of Georgia/Facebook.

The drills launched on May 11 and concluded today with an exercise that involved Georgian and US armoured units, air force and artillery in a mock assault mission.

Today’s final training was attended by high-ranking civilian and military leadership from Georgia and its NATO partner states, and involved a ceremony where military servants from both sides were awarded medals.

The joint training involved 500 Georgian, 650 US and 150 UK service members.

The Vaziani range hosted the official closing of the Noble Partner exercise today. Photo from the Ministry of Defence of Georgia/Facebook.

Held for the second time, this year's Noble Partner drills also resulted in one unit of the GAF being certified to serve in the NATO Response Force.

Yesterday officials formally penned a document meaning the Alpha Company of the 12th Infantry Battalion, IV Mechanised Brigade could now be used by NATO in its international operations for the next three years.