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ADAZI, LATVIA – Michigan Army National Guard Soldiers participated in the opening ceremony for Operation Silver Arrow at the military base hear Adazi, Latvia, Monday, in order to formally begin the weeklong multinational exercise.
Operation Silver Arrow is a training exercise led by the Latvian military and the Michigan forces are participating in conjunction with U.S. Army-Europe and Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Latvia will also play host to militaries from Estonia, Britain and Norway, and training will include a suite of tactical and technical skills and proficiencies.
The Michigan Army National Guard and Latvian military are partners through the State Partnership Program that has seen Latvian soldiers training at various sites around Michigan and vice-versa.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time with Latvia,” said Master Sgt. Joseph Battisfore, lead liaison officer for Michigan’s contribution to Silver Arrow, “It’s just a continuation of our commitment to each other, our ability to work together. This is nothing new for us, but it’s nice to actually move another step forward with a larger NATO exercise.”
Michigan Soldiers have also participated in Operation Sabre Strike and Winds of Change, both earlier this year.
Silver Arrow is a recurring exercise in Latvia, however, this year it will see its largest participation yet, numbering more than 2,100 soldiers, and is one of the most important training events to the Latvian military.
“The ‘Silver Arrow’ has grown significantly over the years, becoming an important international exercise,” said Col. Martins Liberts, Land Force Infantry Brigade commander. “This will be a brand new experience for us, because we will implement in action the plans and maneuvers designed by the headquarters command and control exercise, NATO ‘Steadfast Jazz 2013’ which took place in Adazi Base.”
The majority of the exercise’s events will be conducted October 3rd through 5th, after which Michigan’s Soldiers will return home.
| Date Taken: | 09.29.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.30.2014 12:07 |
| Story ID: | 143777 |
| Location: | ADAZI, RIX, LV |
| Web Views: | 81 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Michigan Soldiers join kick-off for Operation Silver Arrow, by Douglas Halleaux, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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