"It is an honour to organise in Lithuania this exercise exceptional because of the number of participating countries. Our shared understanding of security situation and unified efforts to strengthen the capacity to counter potential threats is a strong signal that deters potential aggressors," Chief of Staff of the Lithuanian Land Force Colonel Tomas Masaitis said at the opening ceremony.
On October 2 annual multinational Exercise Maple Arch 2018 was opened at a ceremony at Gen A. Ramanauskas Warfare Training Centre. The exercise will run for two weeks and involve roughly 300 soldiers from 9 countries training operational planning and control procedures on J-CATS tactical simulation system.
Maple Arch 2018 is the main exercise the Great Hetman Konstantinas Ostrogiškis Lithuanian, Polish and Ukraine Brigade will train in this year. It will be the training event that will finish the Brigade's training cycle in 2018 and assess its preparedness.
"We will act as the senior staff and training with assigned maneuver battalion control parties from Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine,, and share experience with representatives of Georgia and Montenegro who are new in this exercise," Commander of the international LITPOLUKRBRIG Colonel Dmytro Bratishko.
This year Maple Arch has the largest number of participants since 1999. Participating countries are Montenegro, Canada, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Georgia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Representatives of Macedonia are taking part on observer rights. The Canadian Armed Forces are delegating observers and advisors and rendering assistance in arranging the exercise.
"The beginning of Exercise Maple Arch 2018 today is a proof of the success of the series launched in 1999. This year the international training event was joined by four more countries who saw the opportunity to train its military personnel in command and planning positions. Canada is very happy to be in the role of a mentor in this exercise," senior officer of the Canadian contingent Lt Col Steve Hale said.
The exercise is organised by Lithuania, Poland or Ukraine on a rotational basis. This year it was organised by the Lithuanian Land Force.
Public Information Centre of Exercise Maple Arch 2018: Capt Donatas Suchockis, PAO for the Lithuanian Land Force, donatas.suchockis@mil.lt, +37064045380
