Multinational Field Training Exercise Allied Spirit 24 running on February 26–March 22 at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center near Hohenfels, Germany, and surrounding areas trains over 6000 NATO Allies and Partners from 10 countries – Denmark, Italy, Spain, U.S., UK, Netherlands, Croatia, Hungary, Germany and Lithuania which is represented by over 300 troops and over 50 tactical vehicles from the Lithuanian Grand Duchess Birutė Uhlan Battalion, Colonel Juozas Vitkus Engineer Battalion of the Lithuanian Land Force and the 2nd Territorial Unit of Darius and Girėnas Military District of the National Defence Volunteer Force.
The exercise aims to build interoperability between NATO Allies and Partners through integration of IS and communications, logistics and supply, military aviation, close air support, indirect fire and air defence capabilities in operational planning and execution.
The exercise is held by the 7th Army Training Command for U.S. Army Europe in two stages: preparation and planning and the active phase. During the latter the training units execute intense and aggressive defensive operations, interact with the civilian environment and adjacent units 24 hours a day.
The Joint Multinational Readiness Center hosting FTX Allied Spirit has a multifunctional area of 163 km² with 1 345 objects and buildings, 319 km roads and forest paths, all fully fitted for military exercises and training. The large area allows training of a beyond-brigade-sized unit and operational environment fully adjustable to its training objectives and goals.
Information and photo credits: Lithuanian Land Force
