The official opening ceremonies at the Pabradės Training Area and the Naval Flotilla in Klaipėda, which took place on June 13, were followed by the first phase of the largest multinational Exercise in Lithuania this year - Amber Hope 2011. The first phase of the Exercise will last until June 19 and its goal is to train the Exercise units and staff for the second phase when manoeuvring units will train according to an established scenario unknown to most participants. The Exercise Staff will conduct coordination, observation, control and evaluation of the executed operations.
Exercise Amber Hope 2011 (AH11) is being held concurrently in both the Pabradės Training Area and the territorial waters of Lithuania in the Baltic Sea. At the Pabradės Training Area, during the first phase of training, two international battalions, an engineer platoon, and a nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) defence platoon will practice executing present-day NATO-led operations in a multinational environment. The units will train in precision firing, riot control, rendering first aid, medical airlift, escort and convoy duties, counter-improvised explosive device (EOD) actions, mine neutralization, installing observation and control posts and conducting respective tasks, patrolling, conducting NBC clearance and a variety of other tasks.
At seven other locations within the Pabradės Training Area, the aforementioned actions will be instructed by Lithuanian troops, the riot/crowd control training will be provided by representatives of the Lithuanian Public Security Service, and search and cordon operations will be instructed by Finnish Defence Forces.
Military medics from the Pennsylvania National Guard are sharing experiences with Lithuanian military medics who are taking the Tactical Combat Healthcare Course under their US colleagues' instructions.
During this first phase, the Exercise staff will employ the Joint Exercise Management Module (JEMM) to conduct crisis response operations under the Exercise scenario for the staff in the two international battalions. Actions of manoeuvre units are simulated by the Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation (JCATS) operators from the Gen Adolfas Ramanauskas Warfare Training Centre. During this week, the air component will conduct air reconnaissance of landing sites by Mi-8 helicopters, and enact close air support for surface forces using the L-39.
The Naval and special operations component of AH11, with support from the air component, will drill in tactical warship formation manoeuvres, detection and observation of water-borne surface objects, counter-surface actions, naval mine detection and neutralization, artillery firing at sea, defence from non-conventional combat tools, transfer and reception of cargo from ships and aircraft, and at-sea interrogation and detention of transgressor ships in the territorial waters of the Republic of Lithuania in the Baltic Sea. The goal of naval units during phase one is to coordinate capabilities of several ships to conduct operations as a single unit, and prepare properly for the follow-on phase. The aforementioned operations involve five warships of the Lithuanian Naval Force, one harbour cutter and the Sea Coastal Surveillance Service.
During the second phase of the Exercise, from June 19 to 23, the Exercise staff and all of the training units will follow a scenario established from experiences gleaned by Lithuanian and other Allied militaries in multinational operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and off the Somali coast. JCATS will not be involved in this aspect of the Exercise.
More than 2, 000 military servicemembers and civilians from seven NATO countries - Canada, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Poland and U.S.A., and two NATO partner countries under the Partnership for Peace programme - Finland and Georgia, are taking part in Exercise Amber Hope 2011. Observers nations for the Exercise include: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine.
Lithuanian Armed Forces have been organizing Exercise Amber Hope since 1995. The last Amber Hope series was held in Klaipėda in 2007. This year, the Exercise is organized and conducted by the Joint Headquarters of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
For more information about the Exercise:
http://kariuomene.kam.lt/en/ah11.html
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The point of contact for Exercise Amber Hope 2011 is:
In the Pabradės Training Area - Capt Mindaugas Neimontas, Head of Media Operations Section, cell phone 00370 640 45 380, e-mail neimontas@gmail.com
In Klaipėda - Lt (N) Antanas Brencius, cell phone 00370 698 18196, e-mail antanas.brencius@mil.lt
