DUSHANBE, September 15, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A joint command-and-staff drill for the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces (CRDF) of the Central Asian Region of Collective Security (Central Asian group) of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is expected to take place in Tajikistan from September 17-25, according to the CSTO Secretariat.

The purpose of the exercise is to rehearse basic principles of organization of joint military actions.  The exercise includes staff drill and practical training.  The exercise will close on September 25 with a final phase at the training grounds featuring live-fire missions, involving subunits of Tajikistan and the Russian Federation in the Central Asian group.

The Collective Rapid Deployment Forces (CRDF) of the Central Asian Region of Collective Security were established on May 25, 2001.  They are a component of the current system of collective security, which is based on the regional principle and includes three regional military groups: Russian-Belarus group (Eastern European group); Russian-Armenian group (Caucasian group); and Central Asian group.

We will recall that a military exercise began in Moscow on August 26, marking the first official testing of the new Collective Operational Reaction Forces (CORF) created within the framework of the CSTO.  The initial phase in Moscow involved command-staff planning linked to the military-political aspects of coalition interaction, while military units will join the second and third stages, in Belarus in late September, and Kazakhstan in October.

The CORF is a Russian initiative intended to transform and expand by three to four times the existing CSTO rapid reaction dimension into a permanently ready, combat-capable force designed for intervention in crisis situations on the territory of CSTO member states.

The CSTO member nations are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.