"Khaan Quest 2007" Multi-national Military Exercise Starts in Mongolia

Khaan Quest 2007 multi-national military exercise, a joint Mongolian-U.S. 4th annual military training exercise will be conducted on August 1-16 at the Tavan Tolgoi (Five Hills) Training Camp, 60 kilometers west of Ulaanbaatar.

Over 1,000 military personnels from nine countries including Bangladesh, Tonga, South Korea, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, and USA, will take part in the field exercise. Also, Russia, China and Japan will take part in the exercise as observer states.

The troops will practice peacekeeping operations like patrolling, defending convoys, setting up checkpoints, and checking in and out. The exercises will test the tolerance and strength of the soldiers.

Also, Khaan Quest 2007 Command-Post Exercise training will be held in Khan Palace Hotel in Ulaanbaatar on August 1-10. Around 120 service members from 19 member countries of the Multinational Planning Augmentation Team (MPAT) and representatives from United Nations and other non-government organizations will take part in the training.

The exercise is co-financed by Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) of the US Department of State and the Government of Mongolia. The government projected to spend MNT200 million for the training and exercise.

As part of Khaan Quest 2007, humanitarian civil assistance project will also be conducted in Ulaanbaatar by U.S. forces. Mongolian and U.S. military troops will renovate mental department of Maternity and Infant Scientific Research Hospital with US$81,000 funding from GPOI.

During the training, Admiral Timothy J. Keating, the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, and General John F. Goodman, the Commanding General of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, will visit Mongolia, according to Ts.Togoo, Commander of the General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces.

After the Khaan Quest 2007 exercise, a Mongolian-Indian joint military exercise Nomadic Elephant will be conducted in Mongolia.

The members of the Mongolian Armed Forces, trained by the Khaan Quest multi-national peacekeeping exercises, go to different parts of the world on peacekeeping missions: Iraq, Kosovo, and Sierra Leone. Currently, 100 troops serving for Operation Iraqi Freedom, 21 trainers for Development Program of the Afghan National Army, 250 peacekeeping troops for UN-mandated peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone, and 11 personnel in four African countries.