International EOD Exercise 'Ardent Defender' Kicks Off

Ontario, Canada Ardent Defender, the annual exercise held at various bases across Canada since its inception in 2012, kicked off this month with military EOD and civilian counterparts from the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, South Korea, Australia, Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador.

The Army 192nd EOD Battalion deployed soldiers from the Fort Drum, New York-based 754th and 760th EOD Companies, and the Fort Belvoir, Virginia-based 55th EOD Company to support the exercises which run for five weeks providing the opportunity for the soldiers to train with military and law enforcement personnel from 11 partner nations.

According to Maj. Atif Rizvi, the lead Canadian Armed Forces planner for Exercise Ardent Defender, the exercise provides a venue for the partner nations to share best practices and techniques as it pertains to "current and emerging threats."

"The intent of the exercise is to utilize a bottom-up approach to ensure that EOD and counter-improvised explosive device training activities continue as emerging counter IED threats are observed worldwide," Rizvi said.