Romania: US "Cavalry March" heralds show-of-force war games

The US Army's "Cavalry March" arrived in the south-central village of Sinaia, Thursday as it snakes its way across Romania to begin a series of war games involving four nations. Locals turned out to welcome the troops, with several taking photographs standing next to the US Army combat vehicles. On Thursday over 400 US soldiers with 80 'Stryker' armoured personnel carriers of the US 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment began their "Cavalry March" through Romania, starting at the Mihail Kogalniceanu military base. It is due to end later on Thursday at the Cincu military base. The 400-km (249-mile) march, covered by the US Air Force, signals the start of multinational NATO war games in Romania. The military exercise involving 1,500 troops and 200 combat vehicles from four NATO countries takes place between May 15 and June 6. The four participating nations are Canada, the United Kingdom, Romania and the US.