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Multinational Task Force Launches Baltic Exercises

The Army National Guard

Release Date: 7/22/2004
7th Army Reserve Command Public Affairs

ALUKSNE, Latvia - Soldiers launched an international military exercise during opening ceremonies held Tuesday at an army base in Eastern Latvia.

The RESCUER / MEDCEUR exercise begins this week and will continue until the end of July in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, three of NATO's newest members. "This is a U.S. European Command effort to familiarize partner nations with multinational operations," said Lt. Col. Jon Dahms, the exercise spokesman. "The three Baltic nations are hosting the exercise, which is directed by U.S. Army Europe."

Soliders from 18 nations have come to the Baltics for training. The opening ceremony for RESCUER/MEDCEUR 2004 was held July 20 in Aluksne, Latvia.

This exercise marks the first major military training event for the Baltic States since becoming part of NATO in March. The three nations also recently became part of the European Union, said Col. Michael McDaniel, a Michigan Army National Guard officer who leads the multi-national task force. "This is a complex operation with a lot of moving parts," McDaniel said in his address during the ceremony.

From the task force headquarters near Aluksne, the computer-driven scenario will challenge the multi-national staff to react to manmade disasters. The exercise then leaps into real world training, with mass casualty exercises in Lithuania and a diving operation in Estonia. Polish and Estonian soldiers will also conduct a helicopter search and rescue exercise near Tapa, Estonia.

Capt. Ilmars Lesinskis, commander of the Latvian Navy, also spoke to the troops about the importance of the training together. "The common job that is based on a mutual understanding, respect and trust significantly increases our ability to react to different crisis situations in the future," Lesinskis said.

Behind him the flags of the 18 participating countries, plus the NATO banner, caught the warm breeze. Rows of international troops stood side-by-side Tuesday morning, as the Latvian Army band performed ceremonial music and the national anthems of both the U.S. and Latvia.

The base, about 120 miles east of Riga, is situated just outside the town of Aluksne and is home to the Lativan Mobile Infantry Battalion. Officials flew in from Riga by helicopter.

Dignitaries from the Latvian government attended, as did U.S. Embassy officials and military attaches from Russia and China.

Just 15 years ago, an exercise like this would have been virtually impossible, McDaniel said. "Countries once considered adversaries now work as allies," McDaniel said. "Our great nations are now bound together in a global effort against terrorism."