Exercise Saber Strike 18 to take place in June

May 17, 2018

WIESBADEN, Germany —

Exercise Saber Strike 18 will be held June 3-15 at training areas in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Approximately 18,000 participants from 19 different countries will participate in the eighth iteration of the exercise spread across the four countries. The long-standing U.S. Army Europe-led cooperative training exercise is designed to enhance readiness and interoperability among allies and regional partners.

 

An added focus of Saber Strike 18 is integration of NATO forces from Multinational Corps – Northeast, Multinational Division – Northeast and the Enhanced Forward Presence Battle groups stationed in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. These units are part of NATO's overall deterrence and defense posture and are designed to demonstrate the Alliance's determination and ability to act as one in response to any aggression against its members. The Multinational Corps – Northeast will command and control multinational portions of the exercise.

Key training events of Saber Strike 18 include a convoy by 2nd Cavalry Regiment from Germany to Latvia as they participate in different aspects of the exercise; air assault operations in several training areas across the exercise; and bridge and river crossing operations to support freedom of movement.
Residents in the exercise countries, as well as Germany and the Czech Republic, can expect increased military convoys on the roadways from late May through early July. This time frame covers expected moves from home stations and port facilities to the exercise, events and movements during the exercise, and the units returning to their home stations and ports following the completion of the activities.

This year's participating nations include: Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as NATO.

Media interested in covering events at Saber Strike 18 should visit our media registration website at https://goo.gl/forms/aDsDUZfkJcPxqPsB3 to indicate what activities they would like to cover and provide the information required for the host countries to perform media accreditation. Accreditation procedures can take up to 14 days and the events listed as available for coverage are subject to change.