NATO’s “Agile spirit 2023” exercise kicks off in Georgia

Georgia’s Defense Minister has announced that the country is hosting NATO’s “Agile Spirit 2023” multinational exercise for the eleventh time.

On August 21, Commander of the Georgian Defense Forces, Maj.-Gen. Giorgi Matiashvili and Deputy Minister of Defense Grigol Giorgadze welcomed the participants from 22 countries at the official opening, held at the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC). The exercise will end on September 1, Civil.ge reports.

US DoD Reports on Details

According to the US Department of Defense (DoD), the current iteration of “Agile Spirit” brings together more than 3,500 troops from nations including Germany, Romania, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Azerbaijan, and the United States. Approximately 1,200 are from the United States.

The US DoD says the brigade-level exercise will feature field training, live-fire demonstrations, and various response scenarios to simulate a realistic combat training environment. Critical training for the exercise reportedly includes a brigade-level command post exercise with NATO Multinational Division Southeast, a brigade-level field training exercise, and a “combined battalion-level joint forcible entry into Türkiye featuring the 173rd Airborne Brigade.” The exercise also features unit-level training to include battalion live-fire and field training exercises, combined special forces operations, combined medical and protection training, and other live-fire exercises.