DECEMBER 2007 ISSUE #6

INSIDE

A new, V Infantry Brigadewill be added to the GeorgianArmed Forces in the nearest fu-ture. Recruitment and manningprocess of a new Infantry Bri-gade is in an active phase. V In-fantry Brigade will be stationedin Khoni and if we take into con-sideration the geographical loca-tion of the base it won’t be a sur-prise that most of the volunteerswho apply for registration comefrom the regions of westernGeorgia.

Major Zurab Agladze hasbeen appointed as the Com-mander of V Infantry Brigade.Upon graduation of the Nation-al Defence Academy, Maj. Ag-ladze started his successful mil-itary career at Kojori SpecialForces Unit in 1998 where heserved as a Battalion Command-er and then Chief of Staff of theSpecial Forces Brigade. He re-ceived higher military educationin the United States of America.For a certain period of time heserved in Iraq as a senior mili-tary representative of Georgia inCoalition Forces in Iraq.

We met with Maj. Agladze

Recruitment for V InfantryBrigade Underway

and talked about the new brigade.“V Infantry Brigade is in the

process of establishment and I’dsay we are focusing not on thequantity but on the quality. Thewhole Brigade will be certifiedand maximally close to NATOstandards. Before the infrastruc-ture of the Brigade is complete-ly arranged, its military person-nel will be temporarily based inBatumi Military Base. The num-ber of the military personnel willbe identical to other Infantry Bri-gades: 3100 servicemen. Ourmain function will be the protec-tion of the territory of Georgiaand we’ll fulfill any task as-signed to us.

Training of V Infantry Bri-gade has started in December.700 military servicemen willundergo trainings in SaguramoCommunication Base and Krtsa-nisi National Training Centerwhere they will acquire the mil-itary specialties of machine gun-ners, grenade gunners, artillery-men, signalers and combat en-gineers. The training course willlast for three months. After thecompletion of the course the ser-

National Guard of Georgiacelebrated its 17th anniversary onJanuary 20. A solemn ceremonyto mark this day was held at theNational Guard Department. TheMinister of Defence of GeorgiaDavid Kezerashvili, the FirstDeputy Defence Minister BatuKutelia, Chief of the Joint Staffof the Georgian Armed ForcesCol. Zaza Gogava, his deputiesLTC Grigol Tatishvili and LTCAleksandre Osepaishvili and theleadership of the Ministry of De-fence attended the ceremony ded-icated to the National Guards’17th anniversary.

During the event, the De-fence Minister gave monetarygrants to the family members ofguardsmen who made the su-preme sacrifice for the territo-rial integrity of the country aswell as the persons who wereinjured in combat operations.Col Zaza Gogava granted thesouvenirs to five NG servantsfor meritorious service. LTCAleksandre Osepaishvili hand-ed over honorary diplomas tothe servants of 10th Brigade.

The Minister of Defence ofGeorgia David Kezerashvili andChief of the Joint Staff of theGeorgian Armed Forces, con-gratulated the National Guardstaff and laid the wreath at thememorial tablet of NationalGuard members who made thesupreme sacrifice for the terri-torial integrity of the country inSamachablo and Abkhazia.

“On this day, I would like tocongratulate the National GuardDepartment, Armed Forces ofGeorgia and our country. Let allthese celebrations be the pre-condition for strength, successand progress of our Armed

National Guard’s Day

Forces. We started new reserv-ist training program this year. Itis highly relevant to stimulateclose relations between societyand militaries. Our populationshould feel what the life of asoldier means. I would like tocongratulate the reservists whounderwent our reserve trainingprogram first. They are reallythe best generation,” stated Col.Zaza Gogava.

Georgian National Guardwas established on December20, 1990 and was the first Geor-gian armed formation.

In the nineties, the NationalGuard was the core power of theGeorgian Armed Forces duringthe combats held for integrity ofGeorgia and more than 600guards-men sacrificed their ownlives for the unity and freedomof their homeland.

Before 2000, the NationalGuard included only combatand training subunits, thoughbased on the NATO EURO-

COM recommendations newrole and functions were definedfor the National Guard and rel-evant structural changes werecarried out.

Coming out from the mili-tary doctrine of Georgia of 2004-2006 years, the main missionsof National Guard are: supportcivil government in crisis situ-ations; manage mobilization re-courses; convene, select andman citizens for the army units.Another priority of the depart-ment is management of reserveand mobilization system. Withthe help of the National Guard’sinstructors reservists are trainedin four training bases.

Future plans of NationalGuard are to improve traininglevel of the reservists and train-ing of each battalion located inthe regions in order to conductsearch-rescue operations duringemergency.

Nino Rusadze

Command PostTrainingGermany GrantedMedical Equipment

Pre-New YearOfficial Reception

Chaplains’Delegation of U.S.European Command

Presentationabout Georgia

Defence Ministryand IOM Launch aNew Project

vicemen will return to their placeof dislocation, Batumi.

The position of a BrigadeCommander is a very responsi-ble assignment. Once I had theexperience of commanding aBrigade when I was a DeputyCommander of II Infantry Bri-gade. I won’t have to carry outexperiments. I know from whereto start and I know what I canachieve.

As I’ve already told you con-struction of a military base hasalready started. The only thingwe are short of is time. The lo-gistic provision is at a high leveland it is very important at thisstage. I want to state that the VInfantry Brigade will be combatcapable and one of the best.”

In November, Public AffairsDepartment of the Ministry ofDefence of Georgia organized aPR campaign. The purpose of thePR action that lasted for a weekwas to inform the population ofGeorgia about the V InfantryBrigade and invite young citi-zens to join the Army.

Mindia Arabuli

Defence Minister Giving Monetary Grant

PR Campaign for Recruitment

22222 DECEMBER 2007 ISSUE #6MONTHLY SUPPLEMENT OF GEORGIA TODAY

The 1st Infantry Brigade of the Geor-gian Armed Forces is preparing to leavefor Iraq. Pre-deployment trainings havebeen held at Krtsanisi National Train-ing Center. The Command Post Train-ing was designated for the staffs of thosebattalions that are going to depart forIraq to participate in peacekeeping op-erations in Wasit province. The Staff andCommand Computer Training was heldwith the assistance of American offic-ers. The trainings were attended by therepresentatives of the III Division ofMultinational Corps - Iraq. The CPXlasted during a week from December 8till December 14.

The aim of the training for the Bri-gade Staff was to create the real pictureof the tasks they are going to implementin Wasit province. The most importantwas to define how they manage toachieve the maximal success with theminimal resources. “I think the walkwayafter this exercise will be better under-standing what exactly their mission isin Iraq and what kind of problems theywill see and situations they will have todeal with and will have better under-standing of the overall Wasit provincewhere the Brigade is deploying. Thisexercise is for better understandings oflogistical requirements, personal re-quirements, communications and oper-ations. We have designed this exercisebased on exactly what they will be do-ing. So I think this is an excellent train-ing opportunity for the 1st Georgian Bri-gade,” stated Major David Williams, 3rd

Infantry Division HQs, G3 Plans inBaghdad, Iraq.

The computer training consisted ofthose tasks that the Georgian peacekeep-ers will have to carry out in Iraq in real

situations. According to the simulatedscenario, the brigade command receivedoperational orders from the Commandsof the American Division according towhich they have passed through all stag-es of decision making. Firstly, the unitsoccupied the territory and started fulfill-ing the peacekeeping operation. “Basi-cally, this is like a simulation, this is agame, but this is a real thing. When theygo to Iraq they are going to carry outbasically the same things, the same kindof exercises but it’s going to be real war;it’s going to be real things. This is a gamebut they take this seriously because theyknow what’s going to be in the future inIraq. This simple training is just to trainsoldiers and every soldier to realizewhen they go to the war what kind ofchallenges they are going to face,” stat-ed Specialist George Darguashvili –Georgian Brigade LNO.

The 1st Brigade Commander LTCRoin Vacharidze was satisfied with thetraining results: “At this stage we areimplementing a simulated exercise. Thismeans that in accordance with the tasksthe computer implements real activitiesin real time. It creates the full picture ofthe subdivision’s activities. This is verygood as the decision making and its im-plementing process undergoes in reali-ty. All defects and nuances appear dur-ing the exercise will demonstrate ourweak sides which will be improved inpracticing. This will give us an oppor-tunity to avoid mistakes in real combat.The coordination issue is also very im-portant as we have to cooperate withAmerican officers.”

The representative of the Americanside, Major Williams, evaluated the ex-ercise as well: “This one is most realis-

tic than we held in June because we havesix-month experience behind us and re-ally we improve quality the third time.”

Rotation of military servicemen inIraq is implemented on a stage by stagebasis and it will end by January 15 whenthe 1st Infantry Brigade will replace the3rd Infantry Brigade serving in WasitProvince for a six-month period. At thisstage, the Brigade has already sent thegroup which is participating in the op-erations planning and carrying out re-connaissance with the 3rd Brigade. The1st Brigade has also sent the civil-mili-tary relations group – the Cimic Group,which is holding meetings with Sheiksand is establishing relationship with thelocal population. Soon a group of 100servicemen will be sent to Iraq and theywill be deployed on the check-points andlearn the local environment, customsand habits. For the middle of Januarythe 1st Brigade will be deployed first toKuwait in order to undergo additionaltrainings and then to Wasit Province. Atthe end of January, the 1st Infantry Bri-gade will start implementation of thecomplete spectrum of peace supportoperations.

The Command Post Exercise wasalso attended by the U.S. Brigadier-Gen-eral Edward Cardon.

We asked him to share his opinionon the Georgian Army, CPX, and Geor-gia’s participation in peacekeeping op-eration in Iraq. Below you can read abrief interview with General Cardon.

What was the purpose of your vis-it to Georgia?

The purpose of my visit here todayis to look at the 1st Georgian Brigadewhich is going to replace the 3rd Geor-

Command Post Training

The Ministry of Defence of the Fed-eral Republic of Germany transferredmedical equipment as a grant to theMinistry of Defence of Georgia. Assis-tance was implemented within theframework of bilateral cooperation planbetween Georgia and Germany.

Various medical equipment in thetotal amount of 36 tons will be deliv-ered to Gori Military Hospital and tovarious units of the Georgian ArmedForces. Medical assistance contains dif-ferent types of medical facilities: respi-ratory and x-ray devices, dental and sur-gical equipment and various tools forusing in the field conditions that cost atotal of ˆ240,000.

Director of Gori Hospital NikolozSainishvili commented regarding thetransfer of medical equipment: “Medi-

Germany Granted Medical Equipmentcal aid is very important for the Mili-tary Hospital. Similar activities help todeepen cooperation between our coun-tries in defence sphere.”

Georgia and Germany have beenclosely cooperating in defence sphere.Military Attache of the Federal Repub-lic of Germany to Georgia, LTC Chris-tian Farkhondeh talks about militarycooperation between the two partnercountries: “In 2008 transfer of 25 mil-itary ambulance vehicles and addition-al equipment for NCO School is planed.In Germany’s and Georgia’s military-political and military relations I wouldlike to emphasize successful coopera-tion in the development of Georgia’sNCO School. It can be said that Geor-gia’s NCO Training School is somehowa lighthouse in mutual military coop-

eration. In 2007, the partnership exist-ing between the above-mentionedschool and the Infantry Training Schoolof Germany’s Armed Forces has strong-ly deepened. Relations in military ed-ucation have also increased. 1900members of Georgia’s Armed Forceshave received an education in Germa-ny. During 2007, in the framework ofbilateral programs, 29 events were suc-cessfully implemented, which focusedon Logistics, Military Medical Serviceand Education. The previous year madeit clear that military-political and mili-tary relations between Georgia andGermany are based on stabile and reli-able relations and in 2008 there is a planto grow these relations.”

Nino Gogochishvili

gian Brigade currently working in Wa-sit province as part of our division.

What can you say about the impor-tance of the training and what doesthis exercise envision?

The training is the most importantpart of the whole preparation, sometimespeople get overly focused on the equip-ment but the training is the most impor-tant. So it is good to come up here andsee how the training is going through;what is going on actually on the groundlike in Wasit province. I am very pleasedwith what I am seeing.

How do you evaluate the prepared-ness of the Georgian peacekeepersand their participation in peacekeep-ing operation in Iraq? How are theyfulfilling their mission?

You know I had Georgian soldierswork with me before my last tour inBaghdad and I’ve always been im-pressed by them. The thing what I’veparticularly enjoyed about this visit isthe willingness to learn and the adap-tiveness that Georgian leaders and sol-diers are showing. I think that it is mostcritical because everything changes allthe time in Iraq. So the ability to changeis important and I’m very pleased withwhat I’m seeing. They are doing theirjob well.

U.S. and Georgia are actively co-operating in military sphere. Whatcan you say about this partner rela-tionship?

We most appreciate about the Geor-gian partnership that we have right nowin Wasit province is that the Georgianbrigade came to us without any nation-al caveats just like one of our own bri-gades and that is the way we treat them.Especially compared to other partnercountries come, they come all the timewith kind of requests - “ I can do this; Ican’t do that because of my nationalgovernment…” and what makes therelation here special is that Georgiacomes as a full partner.

Today the Georgian government’spriority is to strengthen the GeorgianArmed Forces. What recommenda-tions can you provide in this regard?

Clearly the activities with the 3rd

Georgian Brigade in Wasit province isto improve combat readiness of this bri-gade because they are in combat ap-pointment. So there are two brigadesthat’ll be a lot better just like our bri-gades they will go through training; theygo through combat and when they comeback they are so much better trained andconfident.

How do you like Georgia?I love Georgia. I am happy to have

opportunity to come here. I made a lotof Georgian friends here over my twotours here. I think I’d like to have op-portunity to come back.

Tea KerdzevadzeDavid Jokhadze

Brigadier-General Edward Cardon

Command Post Training

Medical Equipment Arrived

33333DECEMBER 2007 ISSUE #6 MONTHLY SUPPLEMENT OF GEORGIA TODAY

Georgian LTC Zaza Golodze, a stu-dent of the Military Academy ofBundeswehr held a presentation aboutGeorgia on December 13.

The students’ contingent of the acad-emy is multinational and such eventsaim to draw attention to the culture, cus-toms and current situation of differentcountries. This year the honor to holdthe presentation was given to Georgia.The presentation about Georgia lastedfor 3 hours and consisted of two parts.The first part of the presentation spokeof the history and culture of Georgia, andthe second part was about the GeorgianArmed Forces and on-going reforms inthis sphere. These kinds of presentationsare held once a year.

Admiral Hubertus von Puttkamermet with Chief of J-1, Major-GeneralGivi Revazishvili, and Military Attacheof Georgia in Germany Major GigaBabunashvili. The parties discussed mil-itary relations, future plans and furthercooperation between countries.

At the end of the day, a Georgian re-ception was held in the BundeswehrMilitary Academy, where the guests tast-

ed Georgian wine and national cuisine.We asked for an interview Deputy

Rector of Bundeswehr Academy, Direc-tor of Courses, Admiral Hubertus vonPuttkamer.

Did you learn anything new aboutGeorgia after this presentation?

I didn’t know Georgia well beforetoday. This was the first time when I’vegot so much information about Georgia;The presentation was diverse, attractiveand enjoyable.”

How often does such kind of eventtake place at Bundeswehr MilitaryAcademy and what is its purpose ?

The academy of Bundeswehr is likea little UN. According to the tradition,representatives from various countriesintroduce their homeland with the helpof brief presentations, but it is an excep-tion to hold informational days as youdid. We gave the opportunity to yourrepresentative to deliver a comprehen-sive presentation about Georgia. We didnot know Georgia well and it was forthe first time that we were informedabout it in details.

Many officers have already got and

Presentation about Georgiastill get the Military education in Ger-many, in the framework of GermanAssistance program. How do you eval-uate the German assistance programand what is the purpose?

We think that Officers acquaint withGerman culture and western Democra-cy, so they acquaint with the Armed forc-es in Democracy. It’s a internationalchain, because on this courses 35 coun-tries like Georgia, China, Brazil, Africaand etc. are presented annually and eachof them are able to make an Informa-tion day about their countries. Some ofthe representatives are able to make abig presentation about its country likeGeorgia did today.

What are the characteristic fea-tures the Georgian students are dis-tinguished with?

It’s a hard question. Every nation hasa special characteristic feature; I havebeen surprised many times how closeGeorgia is approaching Europe. Here Iremember the legend of the GoldenFleece which we studied at school. Forme it’s important that Georgia with itsChristian traditions is very close to Eu-

rope. Moreover, you are located nest tothe country, I mean Russia, which ismore Asian than European.

Can you shortly tell us the Historyof Bundeswehr Military Academy?

The Roots of Bundeswehr Academygoes to that times when the Germanywas fighting against France. Major-Gen-eral Karl von Klauzewitz (1780-1831)is an example. In 1809 the Prussian Gen-eral Sharnhorst has invited Klauzevitzto his personal staff, after Klauzewitswas discharge from Napoleon War andthen from his prison. In 1810 GeneralSharnhorst established the „Academy ofWar“, where the high level officerswhere retrained. These generals were thefirst Prussian reformers, who made thereformations of land forces and devel-oped the general staff. They developedthe structural logic and those philosoph-ical bases that the war can have.

Today one part of the barracks iscalled after the Klauzewitz Barrack. This

academy was established since the cre-ation of the General staff and PrussianLand forces. In end of 19th century Prus-sian War Academy was called the Prus-sian Naval Academy.

„The Academy of War“ had beenchanged during the centuries and afterthe First World War is was closed. Ac-cording to the Versailles Treaty it hadno permission to give education to theofficers. 1935, when Vermacht was pre-paring for war, they opened „ the Acad-emy of War“. At the end of the WorldWar II it was finally closed.

In 1957 this academy was reopened.This is the oldest and the only PrussianArmy institution, and till nowadays itserves the same educational purpose itdid 200 years ago. Since 1962 Bundes-wehr Military Academy offers educa-tional opportunities to officers of nonNATO member countries.

David Jokhadze

The First Deputy Defence MinisterBatu Kutelia officially announced thelaunch of a new project - “Reintegra-tion Assistance to the Redundant Per-sonnel of the Ministries of Defence, In-terior and Justice.” Mr. Batu Kutelia,Ambassador of Poland to Georgia, H.E.Jacek Multanowski and Chief of IOM(International Organization for Migra-tion) Mission Mary Sheehan presentedthe project to the public at the jointpress conference held at Tbilisi Marri-ot Hotel.

In cooperation with the DefenceMinistry and with the help of the Gov-ernment of Poland’s funding mecha-nism, PolishAid, International Organi-zation for Migration is implementing aproject “Reintegration Assistance to theRedundant Personnel of the Ministriesof Defence, Interior and Justice.”

The goal of the project is to assistthe former employees of the Ministry ofDefence who lost their jobs since 2005in finding employment, re-training andbusiness startup.

Redundant officers who will receiveassistance from International Organiza-tion for Migration must have clean mil-itary service record and be between 30and 53 years old. Specific assistanceincludes assistance to identify findingsuitable employment, re-training as wellas business consultations and grants for

business start ups and development.Press conference was opened by the

First Deputy Defence Minister BatuKutelia: “Ministry of Defence of Geor-gia realizes the necessity of reintegra-tion of the redundant military person-nel of the Georgian Armed Forces. Thisis one of the most important principlesof Human Resource Management pol-icy of the Georgian Armed Forces. Werealize the existing problem in ourcountry related to employment of ourcitizens. With the assistance of the Pol-ish Government and International Or-ganization for Migration, we are imple-menting a pilot project that envisagesemployment, re-training and financingof business proposals for them. Imple-mentation of the project started in 2007and we employed a considerable num-ber of redundant personnel. Our goalis to expand this project to other regionsas well. For this purpose we are creat-ing a standing center for employmentand reintegration of military personnelat the Defence Ministry.”

Plenipotentiary and extraordinaryambassador of Polland to Georgia H.EJacek Multanowski explained the de-tails of the project as well: “The assis-tance program we present today is im-plemented with the support of the Pol-ish Government and IOM. In contem-porary world the government pays great

attention to development process. Pol-ish government actively cooperateswith IOM and supports neighboringcountries. I mean Belarus, Moldova,Ukraine and Georgia. Polish Parliamenthas allocated 35 Million USD on fund-ing the similar kinds of projects for2007. This gave an opportunity to ourcountry to broaden the assistance areafor development of institutions likebuilding democracy, rule of law, andhuman rights protection. Launching the

Polish Government’s assistance pro-gram, Georgia became prior country.We fully realize Georgia’s economicand political situation as well as Geor-gia’s role in regional stability, whichalso means the stability in Europe.Therefore Polish government will as-sist Georgia in order to foster its trans-formation and development. Imple-menting this program, Georgia will ap-proach NATO and EU standards“.

Chief of International Organization

for Migration Mission Mary Sheehantalked about the program goals: “Thisis the program which serves to the Re-integration Assistance to the RedundantPersonnel of the Ministries of Defence,Interior and Justice. We are completingthe initial phase of the program. Newemployment center will be establishedwithin the framework of the project thatwill serve the redundant military ser-vicemen. The second important elementis the database that includes informationabout training-retraining programs aswell as vacancies. Database will be con-stantly updated. We will also take intoconsideration the market demand. La-bor market survey will be conducted anddeveloped, as demanded areas will beidentified. Defence Ministry is activelycooperating with our organization. Thedatabase already exists and we alreadyhave employed personnel. In the near-est future we’ll open the same kind ofcenter in Kutaisi and it will serve thepopulation of Western Georgia. Thesame kind of project will be implement-ed for the redundant personnel of theMinistries of Interior and Justice. I wantto address each citizen who has decidedto visit our center that we are going todevelop individual programs for themand we’ll do our best to help them.”

Khatia Kurashvili

Defence Ministry and IOM Launch a New Project

Admiral Hubertus von Puttkamer

In Bundeswehr Military Academy

Presentation of a New Project

44444 DECEMBER 2007 ISSUE #6MONTHLY SUPPLEMENT OF GEORGIA TODAY

Chaplains’ Delegation ofU.S. European Command

Delegation of Chaplains from theUnited States European Commandpaid a four-day working visit to Geor-gia.

The purpose of the visit was the es-tablishment of the army chaplain insti-tute in the Armed Forces of Georgia.

Delegation members held meetingswith the officials of the Joint Staff of

the Georgian Armed Forces.In the framework of the visit they

were hosted by His Holiness and Beati-tude Catholicos-Patriarch of All Geor-gia, Ilia II.

“I really appreciate your spiritualendeavors. I consider that the instituteof chaplain will greatly assist the spiri-tual development of the Georgian ser-

vicemen,” noted Catholicos-Patriarch ofGeorgia Ilia II.

The meeting with the Patriarch wasattended by the Deputy Chief of the JointStaff of Georgian Armed Forces LTCGiga Tatishvili and Chief of Education-al Department of the Joint Staff Brig.-Gen. Soso Kutateladze.

By the end of the meeting, Ilia II

granted crosses and compact discs ofGeorgian church chorals to the delega-tion members.

Chaplains’ Delegation of the U.S.European Command also visited theburial place of St. Nino, Bodbe, Sigh-naghi and Mtskheta.

Shalva Londaridze

The process of establishment of anew, NATO interoperable, modernstandard civil personnel managementelectronic system (VCM) has started atthe Ministry of Defence of Georgia.VCM system was developed in activecooperation and exchange of consulta-tions with the representatives of theKingdom of Netherlands.

Human Resource Management De-partment presented a new Human Re-sources Management (HRM) system tothe heads of various structural units ofthe Ministry of Defence of Georgia.

VCM system provides a mechanismfor effective management of human re-sources based on competences of per-

Presentation of a NewHuman Resources

Management Systemsonnel, also, career management andplanning process. Competence of eachperson includes natural characteristicfeatures, individuality, skills, knowl-edge, experience and behavior. Com-petence management implies rationalexploitation of these qualities to themaximum possible degree.

Establishment of VCM system at theDefence Ministry will improve thequality of work performed by the ci-vilian personnel and will provide theeffective human resources manage-ment. VCM system was created byVIPD Company. (www.vipd.nl)

Khatia Kurashvili

Pre-New Year Official ReceptionThe Pre-New Year official reception

was held in the restaurant “Metekhi’sChrdili” on behalf of the Defence Minis-ter David Kezerashvili.

The official event was attended by therepresentatives of diplomatic corps, mil-itary attaches, NGOs, journalists and ex-perts. The evening was musically accom-panied by the Military Orchestra of theMinistry of Defence. The presentationregarding the implemented reforms andachieved successes for 2007 was present-ed for evening guests as well. The FirstDeputy Defence Minister Batu Kuteliaopened the official reception and ad-dressed the invited guests:

“We could not achieve success with-out the active participation of these peo-ple. I’d wish and voice a hope that suchsupport will continue next year as well.”Batu Kutelia commented on the develop-ment of Georgian Armed Forces: “TodayGeorgian Army is becoming more andmore interoperable with NATO standardsfrom finance and public resource manage-ment system to armament and technolo-gy. Undoubtedly it’s a very big success.Besides, Georgian Armed Forces are trans-parent to society and each citizen is ableto take information about the developmentof our Army. The great achievement is alsothe social package, which became the in-separable part of our reforms. We have 32thousands of military servants and all ofthem are absolutely provided. They haveall conditions for career growth, for serv-ing their country and for promoting Geor-gia abroad, which they have proved in Iraqand Kosovo. Our contribution to peace-keeping operation in Afghanistan isplanned for next year.”

Director of Georgian Security Analy-sis Center David Smith made commentsin the context of implemented reformsin the defence system: “The ongoing re-forms at the Georgian Ministry of De-fence during last four years have beenabsolutely phenomenal. But it does notmean everything is done, there is still alot to do, but I think at this point if youlook just at the Ministry of Defence it’s abig success and we really should be look-ing at the Membership Action Plan withNATO quite soon.”

Lt Col Nick Ridout, British DefenceAttache for Armenia, Azerbaijan andGeorgia said, “I’d like to thank the Geor-gian Ministry of Defence for organizingthis party and inviting to celebrate pre-New Year period and Christmas. We arespending here wonderful time. We areenjoying being here.” Defence attachesaid that Georgia and UK have close re-lations in many fields. He also talkedabout Georgian Army and about the con-tribution in peacekeeping operations.“The reforms that Georgia is carrying outin order to become a member of NATOare very good for the country,” addedNick Ridout.

Nino Gogochishvili

Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia Hosts Chaplains’ Delegation

Defence Minister Welcomes Guests at the Reception

Director of Georgian Security Analysis Center David Smith and NATO Liasion OfficerZbigniew Rybacki

Military Attache of Turkey, Staff Col Sefer Ajar and Chief of the Joint Staff, Col Zaza Gogava