Georgia Deployment Program

What started in 2009 as a two-year program to help Georgia’s military train, deploy and support the NATO mission in Afghanistan has been so successful, the president of the Republic of Georgia made an offer to extend the program with two-battalion rotations through 2014.

Through the Georgia Deployment Program, coordinated by US Marine Forces Europe, the Georgian military has trained with U.S. forces to support the international Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and serve alongside U.S. forces and other partner nations in Afghanistan.

The Georgia Deployment Program was piloted as a two-year training program consisting of four six-month rotations to train Georgian infantry in counter-insurgency tactics, techniques and procedures and prepare for deployment. The phases are designed to support training at all levels, from basic first aid to the more advanced, battalion staff-level planning process. At the end of the six month train-up, culminating with an exercise at the Joint Multi-national Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany, the Georgian infantry battalions are ready to be integrated with U.S. forces to conduct operations in Afghanistan’s counterinsurgency environment.

Georgia's offer to serve alongside NATO and ISAF partners has and will continue to be a vital contribution to the mission of bringing peace and security to Afghanistan and strengthening NATO’s collective defense. Ninety percent of the nations supporting ISAF are from within EUCOM’s area of focus, and without this collective defense, nations are unable to focus properly on global security challenges.