Military exercises Didgori 2018 kick off with NATO, US involvement
The course aims to improve military coordination and organisation skills during critical situations. Photo: Government of Georgia.
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The Didgori 2018 Command and Staff Exercise, supported by the NATO-Georgian Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC), launched today.
The exercise aims to improve military coordination and organisation skills during critical situations, and will last for five days.
The opening ceremony was attended by Georgian PM Mamuka Bakhtadze, US Chargé d'affaires ad interim Ross Wilson, the Minister of Defence Levan Izoria, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit Zalkaniani, Chief of General Staff Major General Vladimer Chachibaia and other state officials.
Georgian PM Mamuka Bakhtadze at the opening ceremony. Photo: Prime Minister's Press Office
Bakhtadze noted during his speech that Georgia's defence policy is based on principles of deterrence and defence, and the successful implementation of this policy largely depends on the creation of a high-grade defence system.
Prime Minister Bakhtadze thanked the troops and staff of defence structures for organising the exercises, in addition to the US as Georgia's main strategic partner and other NATO member and partner states, for their support for Georgia “which grows year by year”.
"Such exercises are important to strengthen our country's resilience. Didgori 2018 will prepare us for coordinated interagency action, which is tied to the country's security, stability and, importantly, peace-building. Given the requirements of national defence, and especially the principle of total defence, it is important to advance interagency cooperation and coordinated action to a higher qualitative level”, Bakhtadze added.
The five-day Interagency Didgori Command and Staff Exercise has been annually held since 2012. In 2014 Commander of the United States Army Europe, Lieutenant-General Ben Hodges visited Georgia during the exercise.
The Georgian Defence Minister Levan Izoroia has announced the launch of the "most ambitious” US-Georgia project-Georgia’s Defence Readiness Program (GDRP), which will be carried out with the United States over the course of three years to boost the country’s self-defence capabilities.The trainings will take place at the NATO standards Combat Training Center (CTC) built in Vaziani, in the outskirts of Tbilisi, which was officially opened today.
Georgia’s Minister of Defence said three Georgian battalions will undergo special trainings with support of foreign allies within a new program that encourages full readiness of Georgia’s Armed Forces (GAF) during conflicts and defensive competency.
The Georgian Defence Ministry has announced that it will increase salaries for its staff which will be involved in the Defence Readiness Program (GDRP) carried out with the United States over the course of three years.
Delivering a speech in honour of the event, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili stated that the government has spared no efforts to create worthy conditions for the Georgian Armed Forces staff.
Commander of the United States Army Europe, Lieutenant- General Ben Hodges is on an official visit to Georgia.
It is Hodges’s first official visit since he was appointed to the role at the beginning of this month.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, who served as the commanding general of the United States Army Europe, says that Georgia has left nothing to prove and NATO should invite the country to membership during its next summit, Hodges told Voice of America in an interview.
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.
Georgia marks the 29th anniversary of the creation of its armed forces today. The National Guard was established according to a Resolution of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia in December 1990.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, who served as the commanding general of the United States Army Europe said in an interview with Europe Time he would like to see the USA increase its infrastructure in Georgia, especially to support rotational forces and strategic air lift regarding the Karabakh conflict and the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region.