Lots of Planes and Stars!

If you have noticed a lot of military planes in the skies over Tallinn this week, there is a good reason for it! The annual "Saber Strike" exercise is going on in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania through tomorrow, and has brought with it a number of generals as well as aircraft from the Maryland National Guard.

The stars...er...generals visiting Estonia are General Keith Alexander, Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, and Major General James Adkins of the U.S. Army along with Brigadier General Scott Kelly of the U.S. Air Force. They have been visiting Estonia this week as the busy military exercise and conference season gets underway in the Baltic region. General Alexander was in Estonia to give a keynote address to the 5th International Conference on Cyber Conflict held here in Tallinn from June 4-7.  Major General Adkins, the lead military official of the Maryland National Guard, is in Tallinn to mark the 20th anniversary of the partnership between the Maryland National Guard and the Estonian Defense Forces. He was actually assigned to Tallinn as a young army officer, and continues to hold a special place for Estonia in his heart.  

Joint military exercises are a great way to demonstrate our cooperation

While he is here, Major General Adkins will visit Maryland National Guard personnel deployed to Estonia’s Ämari Air Base as a part of the “Saber Strike” exercise. Many of those Maryland personnel will be under the command of Brigadier General Scott Kelly, who commands the 175th Wing of the Maryland Air National Guard.  The 175th Wing will have KC-135 tanker aircraft, C-130 transporters, and A-10 “Thunderbolt” aircraft flying from Ämari Air Base in support of Saber Strike activities in Latvia and Lithuania focused on building cooperation between regional countries.

“The presence of these and other senior U.S. leaders in Estonia recognizes the importance of Estonia to the U.S. military, its  contributions to NATO and partner efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, and Estonia’s  emergence as a leader in cyber security issues,” said U.S. Ambassador to Estonia Jeffrey Levine.

Tallinn's Old City from the air