U.S. troops will train in Ukraine starting next week - the first time American service members have touched Ukraine soil since that country's crisis with Russia began.
The United States will join more than a dozen other countries in the annual military exercise known as Rapid Trident.
Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told Stars and Stripes that Rapid Trident is a peacekeeping exercise that doesn't involve firing live weapons. Instead, troops will train in "convoy operations, patrolling and methods of countering improvised explosive devices, or IEDs."
According to U.S. Army Europe Public Affairs, Rapid Trident will take place at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in Yavoriv, Ukraine:
This year, approximately 1,300 military personnel from 15 nations including Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, and the U.S., as well as representatives from NATO, will participate in the exercise.
And, as Reuters explains, this year Rapid Trident has special significance:
The decision to go ahead with the Rapid Trident exercise... is seen as a sign of the commitment of NATO states to support non-NATO member Ukraine while stopping well short of military intervention in the conflict.
Rapid Trident starts Sept. 15 and is slated to last until Sept. 26.
Below, you'll find a video put together by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Public Affairs showing the highlights of Rapid Trident 2013. It's pretty interesting, especially the soundtrack....
