U.S. Military Equipment Shipped to Georgia for Agile Spirit Drills

Military equipment, among them U.S. army’s armored vehicles, artillery cannons, amphibious assault vehicles, and Humvees were ferried to Georgia from Bulgaria across the Black Sea for participation in annual multinational Agile Spirit exercises.

Two-week military exercises, Agile Spirit 2016, will be held at a firing range close to the town of Akhaltsikhe in Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia.

Forces from Georgia, U.S., Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania and Ukraine will participate in the exercises, according to the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe.

The exercises will include live-fire training events with the participation of Georgian tanks and U.S. marine armored vehicles, as well as anti-tank guided TOW missile systems.

Military equipment is unloaded from ferry in the port of Poti on August 27, 2016. Photo by Sgt. Michelle Reif via DVIDS

Agile Spirit exercises were initially bilateral U.S.-Georgian military drills held annually in Georgia since 2011 at the Vaziani military base close to Tbilisi. The drill turned into multinational with the participation of NATO member and partner nations since 2015. Another major annual military exercises, held by the Georgian and U.S. forces, are Noble Partner, also held at the Vaziani military base – this year’s Noble Partner also included UK troops. 

Exercise Agile Spirit 2016 in Akhaltsikhe is the first time that U.S. marines will train alongside partners away from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

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