US, NATO, Ukraine enhance interoperability with Rapid Trident exercise

Allied and partner service members from 15 nations officially started Rapid Trident 21, an annual Ukrainian-American training exercise, Sept. 20 with an opening ceremony at Central City Stadium near Yavoriv, Ukraine.

About 300 U.S. Soldiers will work tactically alongside 6,000 multinational troops for the exercise under the banner of Partnership for Peace (PfP), a cooperative program for NATO and Euro-Atlantic partner countries.

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To increase combat readiness, defense capabilities and interoperability, the exercise features joint jumps of Ukrainian and U.S. paratroopers and, for the first time, service members will conduct battalion tactical exercises of a multinational battalion with combat shooting in a single combat order.

The nations involved in the exercise are: Ukraine, U.S., Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania, the Republic of Moldova, Pakistan, The Republic of Poland, Romania, Turkey and the United Kingdom.