US European Command’s Activities

The US’s European Command website has more about not just the Caspian Guard but additional projects with the Ukraine, Turkey etc. ComingAnarchy brings it to you:

European Regional Initiatives and Programs

During the past year, EUCOM maintained dialogue with European and Eurasian nations. In addition to a variety of conferences conducted, some completed and ongoing programs include:

In the Caspian Basin, we have made tremendous progress in the last year moving from concept development to full implementation of the Caspian Guard initiative which established an integrated airspace, maritime and border control regime for the nations of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

In Georgia, the Sustainment and Stability Operations Program (SSOP) is geared to training two peacekeeping battalions for service in Iraq. The program combines funding from several sources, including Foreign Military Financing. SSOP also will provide the country with a trained cadre of trainers and staff to support additional sustainment personnel and peacekeeping units. Finally, SSOP will help solidify the progress made during the Georgia Train and Equip program and continue to assist in the implementation of western standards in the Georgian armed forces.

In Poland, we provided assistance with the successful bed-down of F-16s purchased through the Foreign Military Sales Program. U.S. Air Force experts are assisting their Polish counterparts with developing plans to make these new weapons systems fully operational.

With Russia, the U.S. conducted Exercise NORTHERN EAGLE in the North Sea in September 2004. This bilateral maritime exercise focused on maritime interdiction operations and was designed to share naval tactics and techniques in order to increase interoperability and develop common operating baselines. Additionally, our USAREUR Army Forces conducted Exercise TORGAU ‘04 with the Russian Land Forces north of Moscow in the summer of 2004. We will build on TORGAU ‘04 with TORGAU ‘05, an ambitious Russian””?U.S. land exercise to be conducted sequentially in Russia then concluding in Germany in the summer of 2005. This will be the largest, most ambitious land exercise we have conducted with the Russians since the end of the Cold War. TORGAU ‘05 will exercise expansive echelons of U.S. and Russian commands, ranging from combat vehicle interoperability with crew exchanges, all the way to a large scale senior command combined arms peace enforcement / security and stability simulation.

In Turkey, we are helping promote the Center of Excellence-Defense Against Terrorism (CoE-DaT) into a world-class center in the fight against terrorism. The Turkish CoE-DaT directly supports U.S. security goals by building a common understanding of the operational and strategic terms and objectives in the Global War on Terrorism. The Center will also provide a key venue for NATO outreach to the broader Middle East and North African countries. Active participation in this center will give the United States the ability to shape the curriculum of the CoE-DaT. The United States will also have direct influence on the perceptions and motivations of the students attending the training; students who by design will be shaping antiterrorism programs and policies in their own countries.

In Ukraine, we are working to establish a comprehensive interoperability program for that nation’s Joint Rapid Reaction Force. The goal is to establish two fully NATO-interoperable Ukrainian brigade task forces, which will greatly enhance its capability to participate in international coalition and peacekeeping operations.

UPDATE: Nathan has more news on Kazakstan moving further towards NATO.