YEREVAN—Major General Gregory Anderson, the commander of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division, and Brigadier General Patrick Ellis, a deputy chief of staff of the U.S. troops in Europe, joined Armenia’s Defense Minister, Suren Papikyan, and the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Edward Asryan, on Friday in visiting one of the two training grounds where 85 U.S. and 175 Armenian soldiers are participating in the Eagle Partner 2023 exercise.
“The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan quoted Anderson as saying in a statement, “Our ties with Armenia are multifaceted and cooperative. The U.S. has consistently extended military assistance to Armenia, especially in bolstering the nation’s capabilities in crucial areas such as nonproliferation and peacekeeping.”
U.S. Ambassador Kristina Kvien, for her part, described the 10-day drills as a “testament to our longstanding partnership with Armenia and builds upon decades of successful peacekeeping and security cooperation, underpinned by Armenia’s enduring relationship with the Kansas National Guard under the Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program,” she said.
The head of the Defense Agency and the guests were introduced to the control center of the military training, the re-equipped classrooms where plans are developed, and decisions are made.
At the end of the visit, the Commander of the Peacekeeping brigade provided information on the involvement of the peacekeeping contingent of the Armenian Armed Forces in conducting peacekeeping missions in a number of countries, emphasizing that cooperation with the peacekeepers of the U.S. Army in those territories is at a high level.
The goal of the September 11-20 exercise is to prepare the Armenian 12th Peacekeeping Brigade for a NATO Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) evaluation under the NATO Partnership for Peace program later this year.
