Home  /  Newsroom  /  News  /  2022  /  Multinational Division North shares training experience with Michigan Army National Guard

ĀDAŽI, Latvia – Earlier this year, Captain Kasey Robbins from the Michigan Army National Guard, A Battery, 1st Battalion 119th field artillery, participated in the Multinational Division North exercise “Knight Lavard 2022”. Headquartered in Ādaži and attached to the Multinational Corps Northeast chain of command, the Division is responsible for providing contingency planning and security cooperation in its assigned Area of Responsibility which includes Latvia and Estonia.

Conducted in April, “Knight Lavard 2022” trained the operational level tasks, coordination and logistic procedures of the NATO's division-level command, with troops from more than 10 NATO countries participating in the exercise.

“This exercise has been a great opportunity for multinational training,” Robbins said. It was his first division-level exercise. During “Knight Lavard”, he was a Staff officer for the Artillery in the Joint Fire Support Centre, but back in his unit he is a Battery Commander who started his career as a police officer before joining the army.

“It is important that the Michigan Guard has state cooperation with Latvia. We had Latvians coming over, now it is nice to be on the other side. To come to an exercise at the division level and have the challenge of getting everyone to work in the same direction was a good, eye-opening experience, especially for the artillery,” Robbins points out.

“It was a good exercise,” he continues. “I have been in the Michigan Guard for 10 years, and I am looking forward to sharing my experience with my colleagues. I hope that everyone comes back with knowledge and experience gained in this multinational division, so that they can use this back in their units.” CPT Robbins is looking forward to using his experience and intends to apply for something similar in the future. 

Apart from working in the NATO environment with Multinational Division North, CPT Robbins appreciated the opportunity to learn about Latvia's history and culture: "Seeing Riga was fascinating. I went to The Latvian War museum which was really interesting." / Photo by Kristīne Meistere

The Division Headquarters was established in order to increase the Alliance's defensive capabilities in the northern portion of the Baltic Sea Region. Alongside its equivalent Multinational Division North East, based in Poland, it consolidates Multinational Corps Northeast's command and control structure. Currently, 13 nations are represented at the Ādaži-located headquarters : Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Follow Headquarters Multinational Division North on social media:

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