First Graduates Celebrate the US-Georgian Defense Program

The first battalion of what’s being called “the most ambitious program” is celebrating their graduation with officials and military commanders as the first unit trained within the Georgia Defense Readiness Program.

This joint Georgian-US program, launched in May and projected to run through 2021, has a full roster of units to undertake training, and started with service members of the IV Mechanized Brigade. Having been selected and assessed by observers from the US armed forces and staff from the Georgia based combat training center, this first battalion was subjected to a rigorous 13-week intensive training regimen, comprising various command and combat elements.

The grounds of the CTC at Vaziani Training Area on the outskirts of Tbilisi is where most of this took place as the troops took part in drills for maneuvering, combat and reconnaissance, force protection, command and control, as well as containment operations. The rest of the training took the troops to the Camp Norio area just outside the capital city.

In order to deal with the unique objectives presented by this program, the battalion was equipped with armament kits based off the NATO standards. The personnel of this first unit who made it through this intense regimen were awarded on 25 July when the graduation ceremony took place. They were addressed by the Minister of Defense of Georgia, Levan Izoria.

With Georgia pushing for NATO membership, they are doing everything to make it a reality, and getting their troops up to standard is a part of that. After the recent meeting Putin had with Trump, Putin stated that Russia will act very negatively should Georgia become a member of NATO.

“For us, it's a direct and immediate threat for our national security,” the Russian President said. “…moving this NATO infrastructure towards our borders would be a threat, and…the reaction would be extremely negative. It is a concern for us since NATO is expanding its infrastructure and facilities, and the number of servicemen is on the rise in regions where they shouldn’t be."

If NATO membership is obtained and Putin decides to move his forces further than he already has into Georgia, the troops will now be able to stand their ground with this special training, even if it is just until US reinforcements arrive.

The GDRP is the perfect solution to the Russian threat, being a joint project of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia and the US Department of Defense, which aims is to improve the combat readiness of Georgian service members for territorial defense of the country.

Phase 1 will be supervised by American instructors, with Georgians taking over from 2020. Nine battalions are projected to undergo this intense training regimen which includes manning, training and equipping the units over the next three years.

Izoria said that “this is the most ambitious program in the history of the Georgian Armed Forces.”

By Shawn Wayne