 As you know, Sabre Guardian 16 is the first major post-war exercise that demonstrates how critical to the United States and NATO, the southern flank and the Black Sea region is to our shared defense. By the complexity of the current security environment in the South and Eastern Plains and in the safety of Black Sea, we need to know that we can counter that our soldiers in tight operation with our allies and partners can send a firm deterrence message by showing a strong collective and national defense capability.