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Assembling the troops: US to start GLOBAL military drills amid 'complex worldwide threats'
THE US military will stage global battle drills as “complex worldwide threats” of war increase, a senior official has said.
PUBLISHED: 19:00, Fri, Aug 4, 2017 | UPDATED: 19:11, Fri, Aug 4, 2017
GETTY
US to start global military training amid worldwide threats
Air Force Brigadier General John Healy - who directs exercises for US forces in Europe, told Reuters that troops needs to be better prepared for increasingly complex threats across all domains of war - land, sea, air, space and cyber - especially from a more assertive Russia.
While some smaller-scale war games with a global focus had already been actioned, the US wants to carry out more challenging exercises by 2020.
General Healey added that these exercises will involve forces from all nine US combatant commands.
He said: "What we're eventually going toward is a globally integrated exercise program so that we (are)... all working off the same sheet of music in one combined global exercise.”
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He added that Russia’s activity was the main focus for Europe, with officials keeping a close watch on Moscow’s military exercises set to begin next month.
Experts say that Russia has assembling up to 100,000 troops for the massive deployment along NATO borders.
GETTY
Russian troops will assemble for the Zapad training drills next month
The build-up is part of a military exercise called Zapad - Russian for ‘west’ - and is held every four years.
This year’s Zapad exercises will be held in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, parts of western Russia, and Kaliningrad.
General Healy said that while Russian observers attended recent US and NATO exercises in the Black Sea region, Moscow had not extended a similar invitation to its own war games, saying: "They're not being as transparent as we are.”
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Images have emerged showing Russia preparing children for war as the threat of global nuclear conflict looms large
However, according to reports in the New York Times, Moscow informed NATO that only than 13,000 troops would be participating in the war games, and would not need to invite outside observers, in accordance with the Vienna document.
The treaty dates back to the Cold War-era, and explicitly states observers must be in attendance for exercises involving more than 13,000 troops.
According to General Healy, an initial assessment of a range of exercises conducted across Europe this summer had been positive, but a deeper assessment would be completed in October.
More than 40,000 US and allied forces had participated in these global war games.
GETTY
The exercises will involve forces from all nine US combatant commands
US and NATO forces have boosted their presence and training activity across Europe over the past few years, following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
The move has included the addition of four NATO battle groups made up of 1,000 soldiers each in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland - all of which have borders with Russia.
Next year, the US military has planned 11 major exercises that will take in a range of NATO allies from Iceland to Britain, the Baltic states, and possibly Finland, and will bring together troops from air, ground and naval forces.
THE US military will stage global battle drills as “complex worldwide threats” of war increase, a senior official has said.
PUBLISHED: 19:00, Fri, Aug 4, 2017 | UPDATED: 19:11, Fri, Aug 4, 2017
US to start global military training amid worldwide threats
Air Force Brigadier General John Healy - who directs exercises for US forces in Europe, told Reuters that troops needs to be better prepared for increasingly complex threats across all domains of war - land, sea, air, space and cyber - especially from a more assertive Russia.
While some smaller-scale war games with a global focus had already been actioned, the US wants to carry out more challenging exercises by 2020.
General Healey added that these exercises will involve forces from all nine US combatant commands.
He said: "What we're eventually going toward is a globally integrated exercise program so that we (are)... all working off the same sheet of music in one combined global exercise.”
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He added that Russia’s activity was the main focus for Europe, with officials keeping a close watch on Moscow’s military exercises set to begin next month.
Experts say that Russia has assembling up to 100,000 troops for the massive deployment along NATO borders.
Russian troops will assemble for the Zapad training drills next month
The build-up is part of a military exercise called Zapad - Russian for ‘west’ - and is held every four years.
This year’s Zapad exercises will be held in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, parts of western Russia, and Kaliningrad.
General Healy said that while Russian observers attended recent US and NATO exercises in the Black Sea region, Moscow had not extended a similar invitation to its own war games, saying: "They're not being as transparent as we are.”
Shocking pictures show young Russians preparing for WAR
Thu, April 20, 2017
Images have emerged showing Russia preparing children for war as the threat of global nuclear conflict looms large
However, according to reports in the New York Times, Moscow informed NATO that only than 13,000 troops would be participating in the war games, and would not need to invite outside observers, in accordance with the Vienna document.
The treaty dates back to the Cold War-era, and explicitly states observers must be in attendance for exercises involving more than 13,000 troops.
According to General Healy, an initial assessment of a range of exercises conducted across Europe this summer had been positive, but a deeper assessment would be completed in October.
More than 40,000 US and allied forces had participated in these global war games.
The exercises will involve forces from all nine US combatant commands
US and NATO forces have boosted their presence and training activity across Europe over the past few years, following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
The move has included the addition of four NATO battle groups made up of 1,000 soldiers each in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland - all of which have borders with Russia.
Next year, the US military has planned 11 major exercises that will take in a range of NATO allies from Iceland to Britain, the Baltic states, and possibly Finland, and will bring together troops from air, ground and naval forces.
