Armenian defence minister hails NATO drill as very fruitful

Armenian defence minister hails NATO drill as very fruitful

Arminfo
24 Jul 06

Yerevan, 24 July: "We assess the exercise as very fruitful since the
main task, namely coordination of joint efforts to eliminate the
aftermath of disasters, has been fulfilled," the secretary of the
Security Council under the Armenian president and defence minister,
Serzh Sarkisyan, told a session at the Aviation Institute in Yerevan
today summarizing the results of an exercise.

This year the exercise was aimed at practising rapid reaction of
the joint staff of the armed forces of all participating countries,
which was achieved, he said.

The command-and-staff exercise with the participation of 300 servicemen
and experts from 11 countries – Armenia, the USA, Albania, Austria,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Romania, Tajikistan and
Ukraine – was organized with the help of the US European Command as
part of NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme.

Armenia was represented at the exercise by the Defence Ministry and
the Rescue Service. Foreign experts participating in the exercise
described as excellent the level of their organization and high
professionalism of Armenian rescuers.

The commander of the Kansas National Guard, Gen Tod M. Bunting,
noted that he was satisfied with the exercise, especially noting the
favourable conditions created for it.

"I am confident that the skills acquired by our servicemen during
the exercise will be necessary in dealing with emergencies," he said.