Opening ceremony of Saber Guardian 2019 Multinational Exercise at Smardan range

Secondary Centre for Combat Training in Smardan, southeastern Galati County, hosted on Monday the opening ceremony of the Justice Sword 2019 Multinational Exercise, attached to the Saber Guardian 2019 (SG19), a release by the Information and Public Relations Office of the 2nd Infantry Division Getica (host of the drill) informs. 

According to the source, the activity was attended by the commander of 2nd Infantry Division Getica, Major General Gheorghita Vlad, who said that this exercise is a peak of the professional training within the activities included in the training plan of the Romanian Land Forces on 2019. 

Moreover, the Division's head specified that during the exercise a large range of actions will be carried out in multinational, inter-arms and combined context, such as: live fire exercises, maneuvers and real firing with the fighting technique of the units participating in the drill, medical evacuation and operational primary medical care. 

The large unit's commander welcomed the American partners and thanked for the involvement in the exercise, which is not only a training event, but a multinational exercise with real results as regards the strengthening of inter-operability and mutual trust among the Alliance's partners. 

Opening ceremonies of the SG19 multinational exercise were held concomitantly in five locations countrywide where the main activities will unfold: Cincu, Bordusani, Babadag, Smardan, Rasnov. 

The exercise's main goal is to emphasise cohesion, unity and solidarity of the partner and allied states regarding the defence against any kind of aggression, in particular through the possibility of a fast mobilisation and concentration of forces in a short time, anywhere in Europe. 

The joint training activities in Romania include general staff tactical drills and combat live fire, multiple river crossings, the tactical deployment of units and medical sequences. 

In order to streamline the training activities in the international context, SG19 is attached to a series of national and multinational exercises, the total number of participating military being rd 13,500 from 14 allied and partner countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, the UK, the Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the US, of whom 7,600 troops represent the Romanian Army. 

The Saber Guardian multinational training programme was organised yearly since 2013 until 2017, being hosted by rotation by Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine. Starting with 2017, Saber Guardian is a biennial exercise. 

SG19 is included in the combined exercises programme of the US Army Forces Command in Europe, aimed at increasing inter-operability at the combined and multinational level with the allied and partner nations' forces.