28 July 2008, 17:18
Representatives of 21 countries to take part in NATO manoeuvres in Armenia
The Armenian Defense Ministry, with reference to NATO, announces that, from September 20 to 21, the manoeuvres "Joint Spearman-08" are going to held in Armenia within the "Partnership for Peace" (PP) program.
The manoeuvres are aimed at enhancing the capacity of NATO cooperation with other countries. The manoeuvres will involve about 1,100 servicemen from 21 countries, 7 of which are NATO members, 12 are part of the PP program, and other partner countries, as well as the United Arab Emirates which is member of the "Istanbul Cooperation Initiative" (ICI).
The manoeuvres scenario is going to be based on the "Crisis Response Actions" approved by the UN and headed by NATO. The aim of the manoeuvres is to establish a balance between the NATO training requirements and the need for training in the PP/ICI members in order to access the real experience of NATO in combat operations.
The manoeuvres are going to be commanded by Lieutenant-General Roland Kater, chief of Heidelberg headquarters of the US federal headquarters land sector.
The current cooperation of Armenia with NATO is mainly developed under the "Individual Partnership Action Plan " (IPAP).
Author: Lilit Ovanisyan, CK correspondent
