 The Deputy Commander of U.S. Army Europe, Major General Timothy McGuire, along with dignitaries from Ukraine, allies and other partner nations, came together at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in Yavrov to observe exercise rapid trident in 2016. It is great to see 13 nations, 1,800 soldiers training together to ensure that we are prepared to operate together as one, to learn from each other and to build our readiness. The distinguished visitors have the opportunity to observe ongoing training, including security and defensive operations. Rapid trident is meant to bring countries from around Europe to build interoperability with Ukraine, U.S. allies and other partnership for peace nations. This has been a very successful training exercise. We appreciate the Ukrainian Army and National Guard for sponsoring it. The United States Army of Europe is proud to be co-host and once again very pleased.