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    Noble Partner 20 Comes to a Close

    VAZIANI TRAINING AREA, VAZIANI TRAINING AREA, GEORGIA

    09.19.2020

    Courtesy Story

    Georgia National Guard

    Noble Partner 20 concluded with a combined arms live-fire exercise, a closing ceremony, an awards ceremony, and celebratory barbeque at Vaziani Training Area, Georgia, Sept. 18, 2020.

    Noble Partner 20 is a Georgian Defense Force and U.S. Army Europe cooperatively-led exercise hosted at Vaziani and Camp Norio training areas designed to enhance Georgian, regional partner, and U.S. force readiness and interoperability in a realistic, multinational training environment. Noble Partner is a recurring, biannual exercise in its fifth iteration. This year also marks the 26th year of the partnership agreement between the Georgia National Guard and country of Georgia under the National Guard’s State Partnership Program.

    “Nearly two weeks ago, I had the honor to be here for the opening of Noble Partner 20,” said U.S. Army Col. Jason Fryman, the exercise co-director. “Now we must say our good byes after two weeks of invaluable training.”

    Key tasks completed during Noble Partner 20 include an airborne joint force entry by the 173rd Airborne Brigade, a tactical road march by 4th Squadron, 2d Cavalry Regiment, a Georgian and Polish special operations forces hostage extraction demonstration, a live breach demonstration led by U.S. and Georgian combat engineers, a French air defense situational training exercise, and a multinational offensive operation conducted by U.K. and Georgian forces.

    The culminating combined arms live-fire exercise included showcased firepower from U.S. Stryker infantry carrier vehicle dragoons and mobile gun systems, Georgian BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and T-72 tanks, and combined U.S. and Georgian mortar and artillery fires.

    The closing ceremony recognized the hard work of the exercise’s participants and reaffirmed the growing trust amongst the partners and allies. Distinguished visitors at the closing ceremony included: Salome Zourabichvili, the president of Georgia; Archil Talakvadze, the chief of the parliament of Georgia; Irakli Garibashvili, the minister of defence of Georgia; Kelly Degnan, the ambassador of the U.S. to Georgia; Maj. Gen. Giorgi Matiashvili, the chief of Georgian Defence Forces, and U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Joe Jarrard, the U.S. Army Europe deputy commanding general for army national guard.

    “To all of you, the soldiers, standing in front of us, your presence here is more than an opportunity to train. You are a symbol of the strong and abiding partnership between our nations,” said Degnan. “The close bonds forged during training exercises like this create stronger, more capable forces during times of crisis.”

    Evening festivities began with an awards ceremony in which exercise leadership presented awards to numerous soldiers from the participating nations whom distinguished themselves during the two weeks of training. In lieu of the normal dinner meal at the Vaziani Training Area dining facility, Georgian contractors hosted a barbeque which fed the thousands of service members in attendance. Many soldiers exchanged gifts, unit patches and phone numbers during the barbeque as they said their last farewells.

    “The militaries of five nations came here to Vaziani to train together as allies and partners. We depart to our homes as stronger forces, stronger partners, and stronger friends,” said Fryman. “We look forward to our return [to Georgia] in the future as we continue our partnership.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 09.19.2020
    Date Posted: 10.02.2020 10:33
    Story ID: 379835
    Location: VAZIANI TRAINING AREA, VAZIANI TRAINING AREA, GE

    Web Views: 50
    Downloads: 0

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