President Saakashvili visits joint military exercise in Vaziani
July 21 President Saakashvili visited Operation Immediate Response 08 at Vaziani base to see firsthand the training exercises underway involving soldiers from the US, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Ukraine. Operation Immediate Response 08 has been planned since 2006 and is training troops in the spirit of the Partnership for Peace. Operation Immediate Response is an annual, bilateral security cooperation exercise conducted between U.S. and NATO and coalition partners. It is a longstanding Joint Chiefs of Staff directed exercise focused on interoperability training and theater security cooperation, and is designed to promote understanding and cooperation between military forces of the United States and our allies. This exercise is designed to build on lessons learned from previous combined training and operations by giving commanders and their staffs a practical exercise in organizing, controlling, and supporting coalition stability and security operations.
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