14th Indo-US Joint Army Exercise in Uttarakhand Concludes

Begun in 2004, the “Yudh Abhyas” military programme has brought the Indian and US militaries together for joint exercises under the US Army Pacific Partnership Programme. In its 14th iteration, the exercises that were held in Chaubattia, in Almoria District of Uttarakhand drew to a close today. A total of 350 soldiers, a single infantry battalion from the Indian Army, worked in close conjunction with members of the US Army’s 1st Battalion of the 23rd Infantry regiment in the fourth such joint exercise to take place in Chaubhattia.

The overall duration for this training was two weeks, and during this time, the progressive degrees of difficulty saw initial stages that involved members of both armed forces gaining familiarity with the other’s weapons, drills and organizational structure. From this, they progressed to receiving and collating intelligence received to be able to give effective orders and instructions on the actions to be taken. Staff officers and Commanders from both sides were involved in this exercise, according to a spokesman for the Indian Army. Speaking to the Indo Asian News Service, the spokesman said, “Over the years the two countries have decided to progressively increase the scope and content of the combined exercise.”

The last two days of the training exercise involved a consolidation and validation exercise that made use of all the techniques and information that had been learned over the first twelve days of training, and the troops participated in a rescue and destroy mission at Pilkholi, near Chaubhattia. Senior officers from both the Indian and US armies reviewed this final exercise.