Training Exercise Brings 3,600 Military Personnel Together

U.S. Army V Corps, the Georgia (U.S.) National Guard, Georgia Defense Forces (GDF), Türkiye and Multinational Division Southeast, along with Allies and partners, conducted exercise Agile Spirit 23 from 21 August to 1 September in the countries of Georgia and Türkiye.

Exercise Agile Spirit 23 supports theater security cooperation and interoperability among NATO Allies and partners to improve joint and multinational readiness capabilities by exercising rapid mobility. The exercise is used to posture combat credible forces across the European theater to the country of Georgia to bolster their defense efforts and deter aggression in the Black Sea region while exercising the enduring U.S. State Partnership Program with the Georgia Army National Guard.

Approximately 3,600 military personnel from 21 Allied and partner forces include participants from: Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Türkiye, United Kingdom, and United States. Of the military personnel, approximately 1,200 are U.S. service members, an estimated 1,900 are Georgian personnel, and about 500 are from the other participating nations.

"What matters most is two things: collaboration and interoperability," said Col. John Avera, commander, 122nd Tactical Support Detachment, 78th Troop Command, Georgia Army National Guard. “Because of these exercises, we’ve learned to work with each other. After that, it’s more than just operations; it comes down to logistics and how we incorporate communications. We know that we can maneuver ourselves towards a positive outcome.”

Critical training included a brigade-level command post exercise with NATO Multinational Division Southeast, a brigade-level field training exercise, a combined battalion-level Joint Forcible Entry into Türkiye, combined battalion live fire and field training exercises, combined special forces operations, combined medical and protection training, and other live fire exercises executed in multiple locations within the country of Georgia.

Agile Spirit 23 enhances U.S., Georgian, NATO Allied and regional partner forces’ readiness and interoperability in a realistic training environment. The exercise improves interoperability at the tactical level between joint U.S. Forces and Allies and partner forces, planning for GDF special operation forces and conventional forces integration, and execution of exercises with combined multinational units, improving command and control capabilities. The training ensures that U.S., Allied and partnered nations maintain deterrence capability with a combination of combat-ready multinational forces.

The exercise took place in multiple training locations within the country of Georgia to include Vaziani Training Area, Krtsanisi Training Area, Norio Training Area and Senaki Training Area. Türkiye also hosted training at the Kayseri Airbase Martyr Hasan BAK drop zone.