STORY AND PHOTO BY MAJ. ANGEL JACKSON/U.S. ARMY CENTRAL
The annual Steppe Eagle military exercise kicked off with a ceremony at the Ilisky Training Area in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in April 2015. Soldiers from Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom and the United States joined forces for a two-phase training event designed to refine peacekeeping and peace support operations, while improving interoperability and military cooperation with key partner nations.
In its 13th iteration, Steppe Eagle provided multilateral forces with the opportunity to promote cooperation among participating forces, practice crisis management and enhance readiness through realistic, modern-day interactive scenarios.
Gen. Maj. Daulet Ospanov, commander of the Kazakhstan Airmobile Forces, recognized the importance of the exercise.
“The experience gained by our Soldiers is very valuable,” said the general. He added that with their partners, the Kazakhstanis would work on enhancing interoperability and readiness in order to participate in joint peacekeeping operations with partner nations.
Col. Andrew Berrier, U.S. defense attaché, noted Steppe Eagle is growing more important as partner nations get closer to deploying on United Nations peacekeeping missions.
“All partners in Steppe Eagle share a unifying vision of contributing to peace and stability around the world, and to ease the suffering of those less fortunate,” said Berrier. “It is this common commitment to U.N. principles that sets Steppe Eagle apart as a unique venue for cooperation.”