Mongolian-U.S. Military Exercise to be held in August 

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia — Exercise Khaan Quest 2006 (KQ 06), a co-sponsored Mongolian -U.S. military exercise set for Aug. 11-25 is designated as the 2006 capstone event for the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI).  

GPOI is a five-year program managed by the U.S. Department of State to address major gaps in international peace operations.

Armed forces from Fiji, Tonga, Thailand, Bangladesh, and India will also receive peace operations training at Five Hills Training Area and the city of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  Russia, China, U.K., France, Canada, Italy and Japan have also been invited to observe the exercise.

The field training exercise held at Five Hills will train conventional forces in peace operations core competencies.  U.S., Mongolian and international forces will conduct peace operations training and tactical exercises designed to improve multi-national speed of response, mission effectiveness, interoperability and unity of effort.  

As part of KQ 06, humanitarian civil assistance engineering projects and a staff exercise will also be conducted in Ulaanbaatar by U.S. forces.  

Through participation in this exercise, U.S., Mongolian and other international forces will strengthen their peace operations capabilities, improve interoperability and gain planning expertise.  The overall goal is for participants to achieve United Nations “Training Recognition” status, training Mongolian armed forces, U.S. and international instructors as part of GPOI. 

The U.S./Mongolian military relationship is relatively new and maturing.  Approximately 220 U.S. military, 630 Mongolian armed forces, and 242 armed forces from Fiji, Tonga, Thailand, Bangladesh, and India will take part in KQ 06.  

For additional information contact the U.S. Embassy Ulaanbaatar, Ms. Tina P, phone {976-11} 312-376, e-mail Tina@state.gov, or U.S. Army Pacific Public Affairs, LTC Mark Zimmer, phone 808-438-6347, e-mail mark.zimmer@us.army.mil