Religious leaders from three different nations met in Adazi, Latvia Oct. 18, 2016 to increase opportunities to work and train together during Exercise Silver Arrow.
Chaplain (Capt.) Owen Vazquez, chaplain for the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, joined chaplains from Latvia, England, and the U.S. Navy to discuss opportunities to build professional relationships, establish common principles of faith and provide religious support in a multinational context.
Chaplain, Dr. Elmer, Latvian army chief of chaplains, chaired the meeting and discussed how the Latvian chaplains operate to support their military. Elmer and Vazquez exchanged gifts of appreciation with the group for the work and willingness of chaplains to participate in providing religious support in the multinational context.
"The meeting was productive and very interesting," Vazquez said. "Latvia has a young chaplaincy of only 25 years old. However, they have built a strong and professional chaplaincy corps with a lot of potential for future growth."
Vazquez added that he looks forward to working with his Latvian chaplain partners in the near future.
This event served to enhance and develop the professional leadership of chaplains working across the NATO region. During the meeting they shared an understanding of how religious leaders of different nations can assist each other with training and ministry.
"Sharing a meal and conversation with fellow multinational chaplains enhanced the comradery of professionals as it enhanced the partnership between nations," Vazquez said.
Silver Arrow is a two-week long Latvian led exercise, which joins foreign Armed Forces units, in order to develop relationships and leverage Allied and partner nation capabilities preserving peace through strength. The exercise is part of Atlantic Resolve, a U.S. led effort being conducted in Eastern Europe to demonstrate U.S. commitment to the collective security of NATO and dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region.
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The 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy, is the Army Contingency Response Force in Europe, and is capable of projecting forces to conduct a full range of military operations across the United States European, Central and Africa Command areas of responsibility within 18 hours.
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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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