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'Immediate Response' Underway In Republic Of Georgia

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  • 'Immediate Response' Underway In Republic Of Georgia

    'IMMEDIATE RESPONSE' UNDERWAY IN REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA

    Georgia National Guard
    Defense Department Documents and Publications
    July 15, 2008

    About 300 Georgia National Guard Soldiers arrived in Tiblisi, Georgia,
    Monday for Immediate Response 2008, a three-week international
    exercise to help build relationships with coaliton partners from
    several Eastern European nations.

    Soldiers and Marines from the United States, Georgia, Azerbaijan,
    Armenia, and Ukraine will conduct this joint training exercise at
    Vaziani Military Base and the surrounding area. The annual, bilateral
    security cooperation exercise is conducted between U.S. , NATO and
    coalition partners, to focus on interoperability training and theater
    security cooperation, officials said.

    A seven-member team from the American Forces Network-Europe is also
    in the Republic of Georgia conducting live radio programming and
    radio/TV news coverage for the 1,000-plus U.S. troops, along with
    allied servicemembers deployed to the training area. AFN-E deployed
    its Tactical Mobile Radio and Television System to the exercise for
    the third consecutive year.

    The state of Georgia will be represented in the exercise by the 1st
    Battalion, 121st Infantry, headquartered in Winder, Ga.

    "This is a great opportunity not just to prepare for future missions
    in Afghanistan, but to build the relationship our state has with the
    country of Georgia," said Maj. Matthew Smith, commander of the 1st
    Battalion, 121st Infantry. "I've really enjoyed working with soldiers
    from the other Georgia as we've prepared for this exercise."

    Highlights of the joint training exercise include marksmanship,
    patrolling and combat lifesaving exercises. A day is devoted to
    gathering sergeants together from the various countries to train
    together on the particular challenges of being non-commissioned
    officers.

    "The training will be a great developmental opportunity for the
    Republic of Georgia because they have a young NCO corps, and they
    stand to learn a lot from our NCOs," Smith said.

    "It's also a great opportunity for our NCOs, because they'll learn
    how to work with foreign counterparts, and to learn the cultures
    and customs of our allies," said Command Sgt. Maj. Calvin Wilcox,
    1st Battalion, 121st Infantry.

    The nation of Georgia has provided consistent support to coalition
    Global War on Terrorism operations and is the third-largest force
    contributor to Operation Iraqi Freedom, behind the U.S. and United
    Kingdom.
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