Twenty servicemen from the U.S. state of Georgia’s Army National Guard are holding joint training exercises with the Georgian personnel in effective response to natural disasters.

The combined bilateral, humanitarian assistance and response exercises, Shared Horizons 2011, are held at the Georgian National Guard Training Center in Tbilisi on June 20-24.

“The recent weather-related disasters in Georgia demonstrate the importance of such preparedness,” the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi said.

It also said that Lt. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, the U.S. Army Europe commanding general, would observe the joint exercises and would meet with the Georgian government officials.