Members of the Army from the Operations Command and other commands and units participated in the implementation of the “Maple Arch 23” exercise, at the NATO Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC), in Krtsanisi, Georgia.
The exercise, which took place in the period from 04-15 December 2023, was a command post exercise organized by the Armed Forces of Georgia, with support and mentoring by the Armed Forces of Canada. 277 representatives from 9 countries participated in the exercise: Georgia, Ukraine, Poland, Canada, Lithuania, Norway, Hungary, Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia.
The focus of the exercise was on training the headquarters of the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade in command and control of its subordinate battalions in the execution of peace support operations and the transition into execution of defensive operations.
The Army of the Republic of North Macedonia participated with six members assigned to different positions in the management of the exercise, in the control center of the exercise, in the team for mentoring and lessons learned and in the headquarters which had the role of superior command. There were also two of our members who are part of SEEBRIG at the exercise.
On 15.12.2023, as part of the exercise a Distinguished Visitors Day was realized, which demonstrated the excellent cooperation, teamwork, mutual understanding and interoperability of NATO member countries and partner countries involved in the exercise itself.
The Commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade, Brigadier General Sashko Lafchiski, was present at the Distinguished Visitors’ Day, as a representative of the Army. Besides meeting the Chief and Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces of Georgia, he also met with the Director of the Directorate for Military Training and Cooperation of the Armed Forces of Canada. During the meeting the preparations and organization of the next exercise “Maple Arch 24”, which is planned to take place in December 2024 in our country, was discussed.
As part of the preparation process for the “Maple Arch 24” exercise, in January 2024, a “Course on the Planning Process for Exercises” will be held in Skopje. It will be organized by the Canadian Armed Forces, course participants and instructors will be from our Army, other partner countries invited and supported by the Canadian Armed Forces.
