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Press Release | May 17, 2012

Eager Lion commanders hold press conference

By None , Combined Joint Task Force Spartan Public Affairs

AMMAN, Jordan (May 15, 2012) — Major Gen. Awni El-Edwan, Jordanian Armed Forces operations and training chief of staff, and U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Ken Tovo, Combined Joint Task Force Spartan commanding general, held a joint press conference May 15, to coincide with the official beginning of Exercise Eager Lion 12.

The conference hosted more than 40 media members from 29 agencies.

The generals addressed topics ranging from the number of countries participating to the exercise’s focus on irregular warfare.

They also clarified that the exercise has no connection with any real-world events, including the unrest in Syria.

“This exercise does not target anyone - none of the neighboring or world countries,” Edwan said.

“The message that I want to send from this exercise is that we have developed great partners throughout the region and really from across the world that have the same interest and that is ensuring that we have the ability to operate together when called upon by our nations’ leadership to meet challenges that are common to our nations,” Tovo said.

There are 19 nations participating in Eager Lion 12 which include: Australia, Bahrain, Brunei, Egypt, France, Italy, Iraq, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Spain, Romania, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States.

Exercise Eager Lion 12 is an annual exercise held in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan throughout the month of May.  Overall, Eager Lion is an exercise designed to promote cooperation and interoperability among more than 11,000 participating troops, build functional capacity and enhance readiness.

Media Note: For more information, contact the Eager Lion Combined Press Information Center at +962 (0) 79 501-5634 or EagerLionCPIC@gmail.com.