ADAZI, Latvia -- Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, U.S. Army Europe commanding general, visited Latvia this week as part of a series of visits to countries in the Army Europe area of operations.
Hodges participated in the welcome ceremony at Adazi Training Area for members of 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, the current Operation Atlantic Resolve rotation of U.S. troops conducting a continuous series of exercises in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland that began in April 2014.
During the visit to Latvia, Hodges also toured the training area and met with several senior Latvian defense officials and U.S. Embassy officials.
He finished his visit by participating in Latvia's Barricades commemoration, the official Latvian event marking efforts in 1991 by the citizens of Latvia to keep the Soviet Union from forcibly regaining control of Latvia after the country declared restoration of its independence from the Soviets.
"It is a great honor for me to participate in the ceremony and pay respect to Latvians, their love for independence and their willingness to do their part to protect themselves," Hodges said.
Operation Atlantic Resolve is a series of expanded U.S. land force training activities in Poland and the Baltic region taking place for the next few months and beyond. The exercises, conducted by U.S. Army Europe Soldiers, host nation and NATO forces, are a demonstration of U.S. commitment to NATO and to our collective defense responsibilities through increased ground, air, and naval force presence.
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About us: U.S. Army Europe is uniquely positioned in its 51 country area of responsibility to advance American strategic interests in Europe and Eurasia. The relationships we build during more than 1,000 theater security cooperation events in more than 40 countries each year lead directly to support for multinational contingency operations around the world, strengthen regional partnerships and enhance global security.
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