Check out Texas’ reserve marines storming a beach in Latvia, as part of one of the largest maritime exercises in northern Europe, BALTOPS 2017. Fifty ships set sail in the Baltic Sea this week for the annual NATO exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS), with this year’s event including a larger aviation component and a larger adversary “red force” in the hopes of creating a realistic scenario for high-end warfare in Europe. For Baltic nations, that fight would most likely be against Russia. Russia has participated in BALTOPS in the past, with its last appearance being in 2012, but since 2015 it has not been invited to join the international exercise due to annexing Crimea and increasing aggression against the U.S. and Western countries. Grady downplayed Russian activities as a reason for high participation in this year’s exercise.
