OVER 1200 TROOPS FROM 23 COUNTRIES GATHER FOR KHAAN QUEST

On June 20, Khaan Quest, multinational peace support operations exercise co-sponsored by U.S. Pacific Command and hosted annually by the Mongolian Armed Forces, kicked off at the ‘Five Hills’ field near Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Present at the Khaan Quest opening were Mongolia’s Defense Minister Ts. Tsolmon; Major-General D. Davaa, head of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Mongolia; U.S. Marine Brig.Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney; Major-General Z. Boldbaatar, State Secretary of Defense Ministry of Mongolia; other authorities of the Defense Ministry and General Staff of the Armed Forces, Ambassador of foreign countries to Mongolia, and foreign guests. This year, over 1200 troops and officers from 23 nations arrived to participate in the exercise, including Mongolia, the United States, China, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, India, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Czech Republic and others. The main goal of the military exercises are to have servicemen of the Mongolian Armed Forces and other participant nations of the UN peacekeeping operation learn methods and techniques for peacekeeping, to back participation of nations in peacekeeping operations, and to develop military collaboration in participant countries. Khaan Quest was first organized by Mongolia and the USA in 2003 and expanded into a multinational peacekeeping exercise from 2006. Now, it has become one of main five events being organized for supporting peacekeeping and building capacity in Asia and the Pacific. Khaan Quest exercise consists of a command post exercise and field training exercise. During these events, multinational forces will work to enhance regional interoperability and mission effectiveness, as well as to develop common tactics, techniques and procedures. Moreover, they collaborate to conduct Civic Action Engineering Projects and Cooperative Health Engagement events. Within the Cooperative Health Engagement event, people of rural areas and suburbs of Ulaanbaatar are provided medical services. Collectively, about 75 thousand people received medical service since 2004. Also, training is organized to share experiences with doctors of local hospitals and give medical advice to local people. The Civic Action Engineering Program started being organized in 2006. Within the program, peacekeepers conduct humanitarian work such as maintenance and renovations to schools, kindergartens, dormitories and hospitals and set up a water distribution point in provinces and suburbs of the city. At the opening of Khaan Quest, Defense Minister Ts. Tsolmon said, “Mongolia has a multi-pillar and open foreign policy to co-exist with world countries peacefully. Within this objective, Mongolia’s Armed Forces has been co-organizing ‘Khaan Quest’ multinational peace support operations exercise with U.S. Pacific Command and Global Peace Initiative for the 9th year. This exercise contributes to enhance UN peacekeepers, improve the capacity of participant countries in peace support and strengthen military confidence and security in the Asia and Pacific." "As Minister of Defense of Mongolia, I am very satisfied with the year by year increasing significance and scope of Khaan Quest becoming reputable in the region. I wish for peacekeepers to learn the military skills required to perform duties in UN peacekeeping operations, be highly prepared physically and morally, mutually share their lessons and experiences that fulfill their duty in every corner of the world in many kinds of situations and be ready for possible dangers. I would like to express my gratitude to the government and high commands that dispatched their military staff to Khaan Quest 2015 by joining the activity for global peace.” During the Khaan Quest opening, troops of participant countries had a military parade, troops of Mongolia’s military unit #032 gave an exercise show, artists of the Ensemble of Military Song and Dance gave a cultural performance and troops of military unit #084 gave a parachute performance. The multinational peace support exercises will conclude on July 1.