Steppe Eagle 16 marks official start

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Terra Gatti | Brigadier Martin Gamble, commander of the British Army’s 160th Infantry Brigade, delivers his remarks at the Steppe Eagle 16 opening ceremony July 16, 2016, at the British Army’s Stanford Training Area in the United Kingdom. Steppe Eagle is a multinational annual exercise focusing on peacekeeping and peace support operations. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Terra Gatti // Released)  

UNITED KINGDOM

07.18.2016

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Terra Gatti 

U.S. Army Central   

STANFORD TRAINING AREA, U.K. – Soldiers from the United Kingdom, the United States, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan marked the official start of Steppe Eagle 16 with an opening ceremony held July 16, 2016, at the United Kingdom’s Stanford Training Area. Steppe Eagle, now in its 13th year, is an annual multinational training exercise, focused on peacekeeping and peace support operations.
The purpose of Steppe Eagle is to prepare participating Central Asian States for future deployments of their forces in support of United Nations-led peacekeeping and peace support operations. The exercise aims to bolster the peacekeeping abilities of these soldiers while also building relationships, mutual respect and understanding throughout the multinational force participating in the exercise. Common goals include contributing to regional and world stability and improving operational readiness.
“We live in uncertain times with an uncertain world which is increasingly unstable and times insecure,” said Brigadier Martin Gamble, commander of the British Army’s 160th Infantry Brigade. “Our nations have a responsibility to provide a secure and safe environment for our children to grow up.”
During the exercise, members of the Arizona Army National Guard will work with their Kazakhstan Peacekeeping Battalion and Kazakhstan Peacekeeping Brigade counterparts on mission planning, operations orders and current operations tracking. Additionally, members from these nations will work together on situational training lanes and during a field training exercise on peacekeeping tasks that include responding to crowd disturbance, managing internally displaced persons, coordinating with nongovernmental organizations and providing humanitarian aid.
“What we’re about over the next couple of weeks [is] working together so that we can operate together so that we can collectively provide stability and security,” Gamble explained.
Steppe Eagle 16 brings together approximately 650 soldiers from five nations spread across 13 time zones and will confirm the ability of these nations to work together toward establishing peace and maintaining safe and secure environments throughout the global community.
Members of the British Army, as hosts of this year’s exercise, will provide additional exercise support as mentors, exercise planners, training participants and real life assistance in the form of lodging, meals, medical and transportation. U.S. Soldiers assigned to U.S. Army Central, many of them forward deployed to Kuwait, are also supporting the exercise. Soldiers from the Virginia Army National Guard’s 116th Military Engagement Team will serve as observer/mentors during the training, troops from the Minnesota Army National Guard’s 682nd Engineer Battalion, 84th Troop Command, will serve as role players, an additional role player support comes from the Fort Bliss-based 2nd Brigade Engineering Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. Medics assigned to 3rd Medical Command will also help augment British Army soldiers providing medical support for the duration of the exercise.

• Date Taken: 07.18.2016
• Date Posted: 07.18.2016 07:21
• Story ID: 204216
• Location: GB