For two weeks during January and February 2023, Montenegro hosted multiple partner and allied armed forces for an elite mountain warfare training event, Common Challenge 2023. Nations came together, forming one force to execute conduct exercises in the harsh winter mountains of Montenegro, including casualty care and evacuation, winter survival techniques, mountaineering skills, and avalanche operations. U.S. partners from Maine and Vermont’s National Guard 3-172 Mountain Infantry unit participated, with Maine’s Air Refueling Wing (KC-135) landing in Podgorica and meeting with Montenegrin Air Force leaders.
On February 9, Ambassador Judy Rising Reinke joined the Ambassadors of Austria and the United Kingdom to Montenegro, NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Tim Radford, and Montenegrin Chief of Defense BG Zoran Lazarevic to observe the training exercise.
