Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The International Army Games kicked off in 10 countries of the world at the same time on August 3. The new event for the games--’Aravt’ equestrian marathon is taking place at the General Training Center of the Mongolian Armed Forces.

Present at the opening ceremony of the ‘Aravt’ equestrian marathon were Chief of the General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces, Major General A.Ganbat, Deputy Chief, Major General J.Badambazar, Deputy Commander of the 41st Army of the Central Military District of the Russian Federation, Major General A.V.Podvilov, Deputy Commander of the Western Military District of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Colonel D.Ye.Khamitov, Head of the Training Center of the Kyrgyz Land Forces of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Lieutenant Colonel A.D.Orkoshev, ambassadors of spectator countries, generals and officers of the participating countries.

Teams of the Armed Forces of Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan are participating in the event, with military personnel of China, the U.S, Zimbabwe and Vietnam as spectators.

In his opening speech, Chief of the General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces, Major General A.Ganbat said, “The International Army Games united many countries together under the peaceful initiative that military personnel should compete with their quick wits, endurance, and skills in competitions instead of at the battlefront. Mongolia, as the organizer of the event, is also further improving its Armed Forces' foreign relations. As a symbol for peace, unity, trust, and friendship for the soldiers of many countries, 32 events of the army games is kicking off in 10 countries at the same time,” and wished the participants good luck in the event.

Chief judge of the event, Colonel D.Tsog-Erdene delivered a message of the President of Mongolia, Commander-in-Chief of the Mongolian Armed Forces addressed to the participating military teams.

In the message of the President, “As the Commander-in-Chief of the Mongolian Armed Forces, I am very grateful to have the ‘Aravt’ international equestrian marathon organized in Mongolia for the first time in the framework of the International Army Games organized by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

I am sure that you remember the mini Naadam festival organized for the guests and representatives in aims of enhancing friendship between military personnel, and promoting the history and heritage of Mongolia during the preparation stage of the Aravt equestrian marathon. Rather than a celebration, the Mongolian men testing their strength, skills and wit with wrestling, horse racing and archery--the three games of men was a way to prepare for battle and a form of test.

I am confident that the equestrian marathon will serve as a unique test for servicemen for endurance, bravery, cleverness, and skills, and improve their knowledge and skills, organization, teamwork, and understanding, being significant in many ways.”

As according to how the teams picked their order by lottery, the teams of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Russia started the marathon in the order on August 4. The teams will be doing missions over the course of two days and one night. During this time, they will be doing missions such as going through water and minefield on horseback for 130 km, catching a horse with a lasso, prepare the horse for riding, staying the night near a sand dune, bringing the wounded to safety, and carrying firearms by horse. As for the second stage, they will be competing in a short-distance relay covering the distance of 7.2 kilometers. Going from the starting point on foot, the soldiers will have to throw grenades, go through obstacles and shoot at targets, and then have to complete various other missions on horseback afterwards. The teams will then be placed in the order of the time they took to finish the race.

Of the 32 events of the Fifth International Army Games organized throughout 10 countries, 16 events are taking place in Russia, while the other events are taking place in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Uzbekistan and India.

Alongside the ‘Aravt’ equestrian marathon, the Mongolian Armed Forces has also sent teams to the Tank Biathlon tank crews’ competition, the Field Kitchen food service specialists’ competition and the Engineering Formula engineering units’ competition in Russia, the Sniper Frontier snipers’ competition in Belarus and the Clear Sky AD units’ competition in China.