Exercise Vigilant Halberd



Exercise Vigilant Halberd is a biennial joint Granzery-Volgarian. Vigilant Halberd involves joint exercises performed by the Granzerian Royal Defence Force and the Volgarian Armed Forces across many locations in Granzery, Volgaria and TBA.

To reflect its bilateral nature, leadership of the exercise switches between Granzery and Volgaria every 2 years. The exercise focuses on crisis-action planning and contingency response, enhancing both nations’ military capabilities to deal with regional contingencies and counter-terrorism. Eight exercises have been held in the years 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Annual exercises
Vigilant Halberd 2005 was the inaugural exercise in this series, conducted 12–27 June 2005, with 16,000 Volgarian and Granzerian troops.

Vigilant Halberd 2007 involved 26,000 Volgarian and Granzerian troops over 10 June – 25 July. The exercise primarily took place at TBA Field Training Area, and TBA. The exercise also involved the use of civilian airports including TBA.

Vigilant Halberd 2009 was conducted 6–25 July 2009, with 10,000 Volgarian land and naval forces and 20,000 Granzerian marines. The exercise was led by Volgaria and was conducted primarily at TBA. It involved various amphibious assault exercises and ship defense exercises.

Vigilant Halberd 2011 was conducted in July 2011 and was led by Granzerian forces. It incorporated "combined Special Forces operations, parachute drops, amphibious (marine) landings, land force manoeuvres, urban and air operations and the coordinated firing of live ammunition."

Vigilant Halberd 2013 involved approximately 21,000 Granzerian and 7,000 Volgarian personnel with attaches from Elesar and Kossaria observing.

Vigilant Halberd 2015 was conducted over 20 days from early to mid July 2015 and involved up to 30,000 Granzerian and Volgarian troops. Defence forces from Elesar (500 personnel) and Kossaria (40 personnel) joined the exercise for the first time this year, embedded within Granzerian and Volgarian forces.

Vigilant Halberd 2017 began in June 2017 and involved more than 33,000 troops. Alongside the Viktor Franz Turanok Aircraft Carrier, 20 other ships and over 200 aircraft took part in what was the largest Vigilant Halberd exercise to date. Personnel from Elesar, Kossaria, and Lavikona were embedded within Granzerian and Volgarian units.

Vigilant Halberd 2019 began in July 2019, with more than 34,000 personnel participating from 8 counties, including Granzery, Volgaria, Elesar, Kossaria and Tenburg. The Exercise was officially launched on 8 July 2019 onboard GKH Viktor Franz Turanok. It was the first exercise held outside Vesperia, being hosted in TBA to simulate jungle warfare and the capacity of VSO forces to conduct operations worldwide.