2009 PRESS RELEASES
CENTRAL AND SOUTH ASIAN STATES PROMOTE REGIONAL COOPERATION
Dushanbe, Tajikistan, August 5, 2009. The Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan held a Media Day on August 5 to demonstrate the success of an ongoing Regional Cooperation 2009 exercise, which is taking place July 31 – August 9 in Dushanbe. The exercise is part of the U.S. Central Command effort to promote regional cooperation hosted by the Ministry of Defense as part of ongoing Tajik-U.S. military cooperation.
The purpose of Regional Cooperation 2009 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, is to strengthen coordination and response among the four participating countries of Central and South Asia to address regional disaster preparedness and security cooperation. The exercise’s main themes include counterterrorism, crisis response and consequence management.
The exercise aims to improve planning and coordination among national and international, military and civilian organizations that would need to unite in the event of a disaster. RC 09 consists of three days of preparation training, a five-day computer-assisted coordination exercise and a facilitated after-action review. Computer-driven scenarios will call upon participants to address natural and manmade disaster response, border security and counterterrorism.
Central and South Asian states and the U.S. have been involved in the RC exercise series since 2001. This year marks the first time that Tajikistan has hosted the exercise. Around 240 military personnel from five participating countries—Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the U.S. —plus observers from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended the event.
For more information contact:
LTC Sherri Reed
USCENTCOM PA
Mobile: (813) 966-8941
Email: reedsk@centcom.mil
