Saber Strike is an annual international exercise held since 2010 by the

United States Army Europe United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) /Theater Army responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICO ...

(USAREUR) focused on the Baltic States. The exercise spans multiple locations in Lithuania, Latvia and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

and involves approximately 2,000 troops from 14 countries. EMEDS tent deployment

The exercise trains participants on command and control as well as interoperability with regional partners and consists of a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. B ...

-level command post exercise and computer assisted exercise, as well as company-level field and situational training exercises. It also features the integration of United States close air support (CAS) with partner nation ground forces and the demonstration of United States Expeditionary Medical Support (EMEDS) capability. This theater security cooperation exercise provides commanders and their staffs practical experience in organizing, controlling and supporting coalition operations and allows the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and participating nations to demonstrate their own roles in contributing regional and global stability by strengthening international military partnerships, enhancing multinational interoperability and preparing participants for worldwide contingency operations.

2011-2020

2011

Saber Strike 2011 was the first of what would be an ongoing cooperative training effort between the four nations bonded by the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

, intended to increase the combat readiness of forces preparing to deploy in support of the

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

. The exercise included a command post, a

field training A field training exercise, generally shortened to the acronym "FTX", is a coordinated training exercise conducted by military units for training purposes. These are often military simulations conducted in open areas instead of training faciliti ...

and situational training exercise aimed at training the participating countries to operate more effectively together. The tasks trained in this exercise were specifically designed to prepare the troops for operations in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and included

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...

defeat training,

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

and patrol operations, and

cordon and search Cordon and search is a military tactic to cordon off an area and search the premises for weapons or insurgents. It is one of the basic counterinsurgency operations. Two types of cordon and search operations are cordon and knockĀdaži Training Area in Latvia, which involved units from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, the United States 56th Stryker Brigade, the United States 172nd Infantry Brigade and the United States

16th Sustainment Brigade The 16th Sustainment Brigade is a sustainment brigade of the United States Army based at Smith Barracks in Baumholder, Germany. It is a subordinate unit of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command of the Seventh Army. Activated in the summer of 2 ...

. The exercise was not only a training opportunity, but also a sign of importance of the relationships among the participating nations. The United States Army and the Baltic States conducted an opening ceremony for Saber Strike 2011 at the Ādaži Training Area on October 18.

2012

Saber Strike 2012 involved approximately 2,000 troops from 8 countries. This was a second Saber Strike exercise program (scheduled from June 10–22), and was part of a cooperative training effort primarily focused on the three nations of the Baltic States. This exercise prepared participants to operate successfully in a joint, multinational, integrated environment with host-nation support from civil and governmental agencies. Saber Strike would consists of situational training exercises and a field training exercise taking place at the Ādaži Training Area. A command post exercise would be conducted at various sites in Estonia, including one near

Tapa Tapa, TAPA, Tapas or Tapasya may refer to: Media *Tapas (website), a webtoon site, formerly known as Tapastic * ''Tapas'' (film), a 2005 Spanish film * ''Tapasya'' (1976 film), an Indian Hindi-language film * ''Tapasya'' (1992 film), a Nepalese f ...

. In addition to the United States Army Europe, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, other participants were included:

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Units from United States Army Europe included the United States 21st Theater Sustainment Command, the United States 2nd Cavalry Regiment and the United States

Pennsylvania Army National Guard The Pennsylvania Army National Guard, abbreviated PAARNG, is part of the United States Army National Guard and is based in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Together with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, it is directed by the Pennsylvan ...

are participating with a company of

Stryker The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. I ...

s which were flown into Latvia. The United States

Michigan Air National Guard The Michigan Air National Guard (MI ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Michigan, United States of America. It is, along with the Michigan Army National Guard, an element of the Michigan National Guard. The Michigan Air National Guard is ...

was participating with American

KC-135 The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpo ...

and

A-10 The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

aircraft who were providing close air support. A company of the United States

4th Marine Division The 4th Marine Division is a reserve division in the United States Marine Corps. It was raised in 1943 for service during World War II, and subsequently fought in the Pacific against the Japanese. Deactivated after the war, the division was re-fo ...

was also there, with a joint terminal air controller (JTAC) team from the United States

Washington Air National Guard The Washington Air National Guard (WA ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Washington, United States of America. It is, along with the Washington Army National Guard, an element of the Washington National Guard. As state militia units, th ...

2013

Saber Strike 2013 was for the third time conducted at various training areas in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The exercise was scheduled from June 3–14, participating nations and units included approximately 2,000 troops from 14 countries. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, France, the United Kingdom, NATO's

Multinational Corps Northeast Multinational Corps Northeast was formed on 18 September 1999 at Szczecin, Poland, which became its headquarters. It evolved from what was for many years the only multinational corps in NATO, Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland (LAND ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Poland and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

), and the United States.

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and Sweden send observers. Units from United States Army Europe included the Contingency Command Post (CCP),

Joint Multinational Readiness Center Hohenfels (literally ''High Cliffs'') is a municipality in the district of Neumarkt in the region of Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz) in Bavaria, Germany. The town is host to the United States Army Garrison Hohenfels, which operates the Join ...

(JMRC), United States 5th Signal Command, United States 21st Theater Sustainment Command, United States 18th Engineer Brigade, United States 234th Engineer Detachment, United States Pennsylvania and

Utah Army National Guard The Utah National Guard comprises both Army and Air National Guard components. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. The National Guard is the only United States milita ...

. United States Air Forces in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

; Michigan, Washington and

Pennsylvania Air National Guard The Pennsylvania Air National Guard (PA ANG) is the aerial militia of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States of America. It is, along with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, an element of the Pennsylvania National Guard. As commonw ...

, and the

U.S. Army Cadet Command The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. United States Army Europe's contingency command post was located in

Pabradė Pabradė (; pl, Podbrodzie; yi, פּאָדבראָדז ''Podbrodz'') is a town in Lithuania, in Švenčionys district municipality, on Žeimena river, 38 km south-west of Švenčionys. Pabradė is a busy place as the Vilnius– Daugavpil ...

in Lithuania, and integrated a new system, the Multilateral Interoperable Program, which serves as a conduit to translate data and information systems from the command posts of differing nations.

2014

Saber Strike 2014 was for the fourth time conducted, as multilateral security cooperation exercise (scheduled from June 9–20) at locations throughout the Baltic region. During the three-week exercise troops from 10 countries including the United States, would practice techniques and protocols for coordinating action in defense and assault operations. This year's objective was to facilitate cooperation among the United States, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia by improving joint operational capability in a range of missions as well as prepare the participating nations and units to support multilateral contingency operations. A United States Army Europe-led exercise, Saber Strike is again supported by joint and total force service members from the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

and the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

s. Saber Strike 2014 would become the largest-ever exercise, with 4,700 troops and over 800 military vehicles, such as

M2 Bradley The M2 Bradley, or Bradley IFV, is an American infantry fighting vehicle that is a member of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family. It is manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, which was formerly United Defense. The Bradley is designed ...

, M1126 Stryker, and various APCs:

XA-180 The Patria Pasi (earlier known as the Sisu Pasi) is a Finnish-made six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier (APC) originally designed for Finnish Defence Forces. The first variant was produced in 1983 and serial production began in 1984. It was des ...

, XA-202, and M113 taking part in the training. At the same time Russian maneuvers were conducted in the

Kaliningrad Region Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and administra ...

. The surprise training of first strike forces using naval groups,

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, landing operations of

airborne forces Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in ai ...

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

training and firing exercise of front-line

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

2015

Saber Strike 2015 took place on June 8–19. It included approximately 6,000 troops from 13 countries: Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition to Poland, the exercise included operations in Latvia and Lithuania, countries that were formerly part of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and have joined NATO. Countries on Europe's eastern flank register concern about Russian aggression in the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

(→

War in Donbass War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

since March 2014).

2016

Saber Strike 2016 took place on May 27-June 22. Sabre Strike 2016 was criticized by German Foreign Minister Steinmeier in June 2016 as "loud saber-rattling and war cries". It was "disastrous" to narrow the view to a military perspective and to look for salvation in a mere policy of deterrence. "Anyone thinking a symbolic panzer parade on the eastern border of the Alliance would enhance security, is wrong. (...) We are well advised not to provide cheap pretexts for a renewed old confrontation policy. "

2017

Saber Strike 2017 took place on May 28-June 24, 2017. Major exercises included a naval convoy task conducted by Battlegroup Poland, an amphibious assault in Latvia, an air assault performed by British Royal Marines on the Poland-Lithuania border and a river crossing exercise in the same area.

2018

Saber Strike 2018 took place on June 3–15, 2018. It involved the participation of approximately 18,000 soldiers from 19 countries training in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Poland. During the event, nearly 3,000 US soldiers and more than 1,500 combat equipment units were deployed from Germany to Latvia and Lithuania.

2020-2030

2020

2022

Saber Strike 22 took place on February 28 - March 18. The training activities included: * Tactical road march through Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia * Multiple live-fire and force-on-force exercises * Rail operations from Germany to Lithuania * Aerial resupply * Multiple air defense live fires on land and sea * Newest M-SHORAD Stryker based-platform debuts in Estonia * Air, ground and sea lines of communication established through Denmark and Sweden * Air assaults Units: *

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

HQ **

1st Air Cavalry Brigade The Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division is a divisional aviation brigade of the United States Army. It was activated on 16 September 1984. Current structure The brigade is composed of: *Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) * ...

, 1st Cavalry Division ** 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division ** 2nd Cavalry Regiment, 7th Army Training Command **

10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command The 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (10th AAMDC) is a theater level Army air and missile defense organization and directly subordinated to United States Army Europe. On order, the 10th AAMDC deploys worldwide to conduct joint and comb ...

** 12th Combat Aviation Brigade ** 21st Theater Support Command ** 41st Field Artillery Brigade **

** U.S.

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...

** U.S.

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa The United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) is a United States Air Force (USAF) major command (MAJCOM) and a component command of both United States European Command (USEUCOM) and United States Africa Command ( ...

** U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa **

References

External links

* * * *{{Cite web, title = Nacionālie bruņotie spēki, url = http://www.mil.lv/Personalsastavs/Apmaciba/Militaras_macibas/Saber_Strike_2015.aspx, website = www.mil.lv, accessdate = 2015-06-15 Military exercises involving the United States Military exercises and wargames 2010 establishments in Europe Baltic states