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U.S. general pledges greater sizes of exercises in Baltic States

Xinhua, July 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Visiting General Raymond Odierno, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, said here on Tuesday that joint military exercises in the Baltic States will be of greater sizes in the future.

"You'll see increasing exercises of greater sizes as we move forward. What I'm interested in there is making them multilateral," Odierno was quoted as saying by BNS news agency while visiting Gaiziunai Training Area, Central Lithuania.

In Gaiziunai the General was observing combined Lithuanian-U.S. training exercise, 110 U.S soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade of the U.S. Land Force are attending combined trainings. It's the 7th rotation of the U.S. ground forces, which have been present in Lithuania since last spring.

Odierno highlighted the importance of joint military training in small units.

"Small unit is where our training starts," the general told local journalists.

"It's actually the most difficult part of being interoperable with other countries, built the training at the lowest level," he added.

Before visiting the training site, Odierno met with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite. She awarded the general with the Cross of Commander of the Order for Merits to Lithuania.

According to the President's Office, the award was presented for Odierno's contribution to enhancing military cooperation between Lithuanian and the United States.

"He is among the staunchest and most resolute supporters of the decision to deploy U.S. forces in Lithuania," said the office in a press release.

After the ceremony, both sides discussed the security situation in the region. Endit