DTN News - JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE: U.S., NATO Troops Train in Latvia #2 (Images)

DTN News - JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE:  U.S., NATO Troops Train in Latvia #2 (Images)

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources DTN Defense News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 18, 2014:  In light of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, the United States is demonstrating its continued commitment to collective security through a series of actions designed to reassure NATO Allies and partners of America's dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region. 


As a first response to demonstrate our commitment to the defense of our Allies, the U.S. augmented its participation in Baltic Air Policing by sending an additional six F-15s to the NATO mission.  Under operation ATLANTIC RESOLVE, U.S. Army Europe forces have deployed to Latvia, along with other Allies in the region, to conduct land forces training.  

* U.S., NATO Troops Train in Latvia - Related Images;

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources DTN Defense News
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DTN News - JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE: U.S., NATO Troops Train in Latvia

DTN News - JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE:  U.S., NATO Troops Train in Latvia

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources DTN Defense News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 17, 2014:  In light of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, the United States is demonstrating its continued commitment to collective security through a series of actions designed to reassure NATO Allies and partners of America's dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region. 

As a first response to demonstrate our commitment to the defense of our Allies, the U.S. augmented its participation in Baltic Air Policing by sending an additional six F-15s to the NATO mission.  Under operation ATLANTIC RESOLVE, U.S. Army Europe forces have deployed to Latvia, along with other Allies in the region, to conduct land forces training.  

U.S. and Latvian troops participate in a range of other joint and multilateral exercises, including SABER STRIKE, BALTOPS, and STEADFAST JAZZ.  Latvian soldiers and defense personnel also receive technical training and strategic education in the United States.

As NATO allies, the United States and Latvia are committed to each other’s defense and partner in critical areas around the world.  Latvia contributes important capabilities to the Alliance’s collective security, including the training of U.S.-certified joint terminal attack controllers (JTAC) who coordinate air support for ground units during operations.

 The government of Latvia has recognized the danger of increased cyber threats and is working together with NATO, the European Union, the Baltic states, Nordic states, and the United States to strengthen its cybersecurity.  The United States supports Latvia’s efforts through visits by U.S. experts and Latvian participation in EUCOM- and NATO-sponsored events and U.S.-based training.  The government of Latvia is also a partner in the Freedom Online Coalition, a group of governments collaborating to advance Internet freedom. 

Italian paratroopers listen during rehearsals for an air assault with U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawks, a CH-47 Chinook and AH-64 Apache helicopters during NATO exercise Steadfast Javelin II on Lielvarde Airbase, Latvia, Sept. 7, 2014. 

The helicopter crews are assigned to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, and the Italian paratroopers are assigned to the Italian Folgore Parachute Brigade. 

The exercise, which involves more than 2,000 troops from nine nations, takes place across Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

A U.S. soldier, second from left, briefs Italian paratroopers during rehearsals for an air assault during NATO exercise Steadfast Javelin II on Lielvarde Airbase, Latvia, Sept. 7, 2014. The soldier is assigned to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources DTN Defense News
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DTN News: NATO Air Defense Drills Begin In The Baltics

DTN News: NATO Air Defense Drills Begin In The Baltics

*Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti

(NSI News Source Info) TALLINN, Estonia - July 15, 2009: NATO states will start in the Baltic states on Tuesday a series of air defense exercises involving Czech fighter jets, the Estonian Defense Ministry said. The two-day drills are focused on improving air interoperability and developing NATO air forces' capabilities in defending the air space over the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The exercises will involve four Czech JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets, based at the Lithuanian Siauliai Air Base, and a U.S. C-130 Hercules military transport plane. The exercises are a continuation of NATO's air policing drills, held last October and this April. NATO's air policing is one of the key aspects of common security and defense for the Alliance. In the case of the three Baltic states, the alliance rotates air policing capabilities. The Czech Air Force took over Baltic air policing from the Royal Danish Air Force on May 1. At the end of its leg, the Czech Republic will hand over the NATO mission to the German Air Force later this year. A NATO agreement on airspace security over Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is set to expire in 2011, and the three countries are currently pushing for the agreement to be extended to 2018.

DTN News: Latvia To Focus Foreign Troops On NATO Afghanistan Mission

DTN News: Latvia To Focus Foreign Troops On NATO Afghanistan Mission *Sources: DTN News / Int'l Media / AFP (NSI News Source Info) RIGA, Latvia - June 20, 2009: Latvia will focus its troop missions abroad on the NATO's operations in Afghanistan, a senior defence official told AFP Thursday, as deputies voted to pull troops out of two European missions. A Latvian army soldier observes his surroundings during a military exercise in Adazi, about 32 km (20 miles) from the capital Riga May 11, 2009. A unit of Latvia's soldiers, due to be deployed to Afghanistan to serve with the NATO-led ISAF force, complete their preparations for the mission with a military exercise that will their tactical skills. "Our absolute priority is Afghanistan and we want to focus all our resources there," the ministry's chief of staff Airis Rikveilis told AFP Thursday. Rikveilis was speaking as Latvian deputies voted to pull its troops out of the NATO missions in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina later this year. Seventeen Latvian troops will withdraw from the NATO-led Kosovo Force by August 14, 2009 and another two soldiers will pull out of the EU-led mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina by October 9, 2009. Some 160 Latvian troops are currently stationed in the NAT0-led ISAF mission in Afghanistan. An ex-Soviet republic of 2.3 million, Latvia joined the NATO Western military alliance and the EU in 2004, but is suffering worse than any other EU country, with GDP expected to contract by 18 percent this year. Facing bankruptcy, the government of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis slashed spending to meet the terms of a multi-billion dollar bailout package agreed with the IMF, EU and other international lenders. Observer, Mentor, Liaison Team members, Maj. Jim Hickman and Latvian army Maj. Juris Abolins, patrols through the village of Nishagam, in Konar province, Afghanistan alongside members of the Afghan national army, March 18. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matthew Moeller) Rikveilis said the decision on the troops was not directly related to austerity measures adopted by parliament this week, but admitted that the overall budget strictures had influenced their thinking. Earlier this year, Latvia's National Security Council decided in principle to end the Latvian troop presence in the European missions in 2009 because of the spending cuts.

Armenia May Pull Out Of NATO-Led Drills In Georgia

Armenia May Pull Out Of NATO-Led Drills In Georgia

(NSI News Source Info) YEREVAN - May 5, 2009: Armenia will not take part in the upcoming NATO-led Cooperative Longbow /Cooperative Lancer 2009 military exercises in Georgia, an Armenian newspaper said on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. The Aravot newspaper said the decision was made after a meeting last Wednesday in Brussels between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at which the NATO chief supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Relations have been tense for more than two decades between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian population. The region declared its independence in a 1991 after a referendum boycotted by local Azerbaijanis. The ensuing conflict claimed some 35,000 lives before a ceasefire was signed in 1994. The area technically remains part of Azerbaijan, but has its own de facto government. However, Armenian authorities have not yet officially confirmed the country's withdrawal from the NATO exercises. Armenian Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti on Tuesday that the situation "was still unclear." The Cooperative Longbow/Cooperative Lancer 2009 command-and-staff exercise, which Russia has criticized as unhelpful in the wake of last summer's armed conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia, is scheduled for May 6-June 1. According to NATO, the drills are aimed at improving interoperability between NATO and partner countries, within the framework of Partnership for Peace, Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative programs, and will not involve any light or heavy weaponry. Over 1,300 troops from 19 NATO member or ally states were originally scheduled to participate, but Kazakhstan, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova and Serbia have already withdrawn. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan confirmed on May 1 its participation in the NATO-led exercises, and stressed the country's commitment to relations with NATO and its active participation in the Individual Partnership Action Plan.

Kenya: Cargo Unloaded From Ukrainian Ship MV Faina

Kenya: Cargo Unloaded From Ukrainian Ship MV Faina(NSI News Source Info) February 16, 2009: Military vehicles are seen after they were unloaded from the MV Faina, at the port of Mombasa, Kenya, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009. Somali pirates seized the Faina, laden with several dozen tanks and other heavy weapons off the Horn of Africa on Sept. 25, 2008. The ship and crew were released only last week, after pirates sped off in skiffs with a USD 3.2 million (euro 2.48 million) ransom that had been dropped to the ship's deck by parachute.Port workers look on as a military vehicle is unloaded from the MV Faina and loaded onto a rail wagon at the port of Mombasa, Kenya, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009. Somali pirates seized the Faina, laden with several dozen tanks and other heavy weapons, off the Horn of Africa on Sept. 25, 2008.

Freed Faina Unloads Tanks In Kenya, Crew Return Home

Freed Faina Unloads Tanks In Kenya, Crew Return Home

(NSI News Source Info) Kiev, Ukraine - February 15, 2009: Twenty joyful but exhausted sailors stepped off a plane and into the arms of their loved ones — a happy ending to an emotionally searing four-month hijack drama off the coast of Somalia. A Kenyan soldier pushes military equipment as the recently freed Ukrainian cargo ship, the MV Faina, is unloaded in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009. Pirates seized the Faina off the Horn of Africa on Sept. 25 and released it last week, speeding off in skiffs with a US$3.2 million ransom dropped on to the deck by parachute. Embracing sobbing wives and parents in the freezing cold outside Kiev's Boryspil Airport on Friday, the crew of the MV Faina — 17 Ukrainians, two Russians and a Latvian — recounted how they were crammed into a tiny room and haunted by the fear of never seeing their families again. Somali pirates seized the Faina, laden with several dozen tanks and other heavy weapons, off the Horn of Africa on September 25. The ship and crew were released only last week, after pirates sped off in skiffs with a $3.2 million ransom that had been dropped to the ship's deck by parachute. In between, hunger, fear, worry and sadness gnawed at the Faina's crew. Looking tired and frail, most clad in green camouflage-patterened coats, the suntanned sailors said their diet consisted almost exclusively of rice or noodles only once or twice a day. They spent most of their 18-week ordeal caged up elbow-to-elbow in a small cabin, and were seldom allowed walks on the deck. "They put us in a cage like this was a safari and nobody came to us, nobody talked to us," said Atrium Girzhev, a skinny 22-year-old mechanic whose mother, Olga, had trembled with anxiety as she waited for him to disembark the plane. Girzhev said the crew tried to keep their spirits up by reading and rereading a small collection of books on the ship. Olexandr Prisukha, 44, said the pirates treated them roughly for the first month or so, but then eased up after some crew members made progress learning Somali and helped the pirates recover when they fell ill. "We wanted to live, and we survived," a smiling Prisukha said after embracing his wife, Olena, 41. "We're grateful to everyone who took part in our rescue." Still, he complained that the arms-laden ship was sent into dangerous waters with no military escort and no means of protection against pirates. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko joined family members who greeted the sailors, even though many relatives had accused him of ignoring their plight. "What is most important is that human losses were avoided," Yushchenko told relatives at the airport. But a life was lost — the Faina's Russian captain Vladimir Kolobkov died of a suspected heart attack shortly after the hijacking. The sailors praised Kolobkov's compatriot Viktor Nikolsky, who took over as acting captain. Nikolsky sought to lower the ransom demands and thereby hasten the crew's freedom by explaining to the pirates that the ship's military cargo was old, Prisukha said. The seizure of the Faina raised fears that its cargo of 33 T-72 tanks and other weapons could fall into the hands of pirates or al-Qaida-linked terrorists in the failed African state of Somalia. With that in mind, US Navy warships quickly surrounded the Faina to stop any unloading of the weapons. Support vessels from Russia, China, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and South Korea soon arrived to help. The nature of the cargo also raised questions about its destination. Ukrainian and Kenyan officials, as well as the ship's Ukrainian owner, say the cargo belongs to Kenya and have vehemently denied diplomatic reports that it was destined for southern Sudan. Back at the airport, Tetyana Pylypenko, 34, smoked nervously as she waited for her husband, Oleh, 41. Pylypenko, driven to despair after ransom negotiations stalled, had gone to see a fortune teller to seek advice. "She promised me good news at the end of January and she was right," Pylypenko said. "All that matters now is that they are alive and they are coming home." Most sailors said the hijacking had not sparked thoughts of a career change but added they would not be hurrying back to work. Asked what he planned to do upon arrival, Prisukha said with a broad grin, "Now? Now I will love my wife."

Somali Pirates Nab $3.2 Million Ransom, Free Ship As US Navy Watches Helplessly

Somali Pirates Nab $3.2 Million Ransom, Free Ship As US Navy Watches Helplessly

(NSI News Source Info) February 6, 2009: Somali pirates freed a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and other heavy weapons Thursday after receiving a $3.2 million ransom. The U.S. Navy watched the pirates go but didn't act because the pirates still hold almost 150 people from other crews hostage.

The seizure of the MV Faina was one of the most brazen in a surge of pirate attacks on shipping off the Somali coast. Vessels from the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet quickly surrounded it after it was seized in September, to make sure the cargo did not get into the hands of Somali insurgent groups believed to have links to al-Qaida. In this Sept. 29, 2008, file photograph originally provided by the U.S. Navy, the pirated merchant ship MV Faina is seen from a U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser in the Indian Ocean. A ransom has been...paid amounting $3.2 Million. U.S. seamen were inspecting the pirates' departing boats to make sure they weren't taking weapons from the Faina's cargo, Mikhail Voitenko, a spokesman for the ship's owners, said Thursday. But the Navy was not taking action against the pirates because it did not want members of other crews still in captivity to be harmed, said Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the 5th Fleet in Bahrain. "Even when you release Faina, there are still 147 mariners held hostage by armed pirates," Campbell told The Associated Press. "We're concerned for their well-being." The captain of the MV Faina, Viktor Nikolsky, said later Thursday the ship was under the protection of the U.S. Navy and will head to Mombasa, Kenya. He said all crew members need medical attention. Pirate spokesman Sugule Ali told the AP by satellite phone that the pirates were leaving the ship slowly because the waters are "a bit turbulent." He spoke from the central Somali coastal town of Harardhere, near where the MV Faina had been anchored. Ali said his group was paid a ransom of $3.2 million, which he said was dropped by plane. Voitenko said the ransom was far below the pirates' original demand of $20 million. The MV Faina was loaded with 33 Soviet-designed battle tanks and crates of small arms. In the past, diplomats in the region have said the cargo was destined for southern Sudan, something the autonomous region has denied. Spokesman Alfred Mutua repeated the Kenyan government's claim to the cargo Thursday. Nina Karpachova, Ukraine's top human rights official, said MV Faina crew is comprised of 17 Ukrainians, two Russians and a Latvian. "It's understandable that their health is poor and they are psychologically exhausted," she said. Piracy has taken an increasing toll on international shipping in the key water link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. Pirates made an estimated $30 million hijacking ships for ransom last year, seizing 42 vessels off Somalia's 1,900-mile (3,000-kilometer) coastline. Although attempts to hijack ships remain steady at around 15 a month, analysts say the pirates are proving less successful. The pirates took two ships in December and three ships since the beginning of this year, compared with seven in November and five in October. The lower rate of success follows the move by several countries to send warships to deter pirate attacks, said Graeme Gibbon Brooks, managing director of the British company Dryad Maritime Intelligence Service Ltd. The unseasonably bad weather was also a factor, he said. But Brooks said the pirates were showing a worrying new sophistication, jamming emergency frequencies with Arabic music or sending out false distress calls to lure warships away. Somalia does not have a coast guard or navy because it has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, reducing Somalia to chaos.