On August 22, Georgia kicked off the multinational "Agile Spirit 2023" exercise for the eleventh consecutive year. The official opening ceremony of the international exercise was held at the training ground of the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC).

The Western Command of the Defense Forces of Georgia leads the exercise. The Agile Spirit 2023 training area covers both eastern and western Georgia. This year, 22 NATO member and partner countries, three organizations, and 3,600 military personnel are involved, including Jordan for the first time. The countries participating in the training are Georgia, USA, Turkey, Great Britain, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and Japan. The participating organizations are Multinational Division - Southeast (MND-SE), Lithuania-Poland-Ukraine Brigade (LITPOLUKR Brigade), and NATO Multinational Military Police Battalion (MNMPBAT NATO). 

This year, Agile Spirit 2023 acquired the status of an interagency training, as the Special Operations Forces Battalion-West will conduct a combined training with the units of the NATO member states, together with the Coast Guard Boarding Teams of the Border Protection Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, in Poti, Kolkheti National Reserve. In addition, Agile Spirit 2023 will, for the first time, evaluate the Multinational Special Operations Land Task Force (GEO-POL MNSOLTG), which will participate in the 2024 rotation of the NATO Response Force (NRF).

After the ceremony, Col. John Avera, commander of the 122nd Tactical Support Detachment of the 78th Troop Command of the Georgia Army National Guard and co-exercise director for Agile Spirit, spoke about the key elements he wanted to emphasize.

According to Avera, two things are most important: cooperation and interoperability, which taught the partners how to cooperate. He argued that the focus now shifts from operations to logistics. He added that organizers are confident that to be able to direct joint efforts in the right direction, soldiers must "train as they fight," according to Avera, in order for them to be stronger collectively.

According to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), as part of brigade-level training, field training and combat shooting demonstrations will be conducted, and various response scenarios to simulate a realistic combat training environment. On the US side, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 54th Security Forces Support Brigade, 122nd Tactical Support Detachment, and US Special Forces in Europe are participating in the exercise.

According to the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, Agile Spirit 2023 aims to increase the interoperability between the Georgian Defense Forces, US Joint Forces, allies, and partner forces at the tactical level to improve and strengthen operational capabilities during the planning and execution of operations in a multinational environment.