OTTAWA - Thirty-six Canadian Forces (CF) members left Canada last week to participate in Exercise CO-OPERATIVE BEST EFFORT 2005 (CBE-05), a Partnership For Peace (PfP) exercise that began Sunday in the Yavoriv Training Area near Lviv, Ukraine. Approximately 700 personnel from 27 nations are involved in CBE-05, which concludes June 30. The majority of CF personnel participating are from the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Gagetown, New Brunswick.
"This exercise provides our members with a valuable collective training opportunity, where they can share Canada's expertise and experience in soldiering with military personnel from a variety of countries," said General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff. "As outlined in the Defence Policy Statement, we are working with our friends and allies to better prepare for the challenging global security environment in which we operate."
The aim of CBE-05 is to develop individual and small field unit light infantry skills needed for NATO-led multinational peace support operations. Canadian soldiers are training as sections within international platoons in a variety of tasks such as patrolling, medical evacuation, search operations, convoy escorts, interacting with media, and the preparation and operation of check points and observation posts.
The Partnership for Peace program brings together NATO, PfP, Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative nations in a series of joint defence and security-related activities. It was launched in 1994 in an effort to help increase stability and security throughout Europe.
This exercise brings together the NATO member states of Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States; the PfP nations of Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Switzerland; two Mediterranean Dialogue nations, Israel and Egypt; and two members of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, Kuwait and Qatar.
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