KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – With tensions in the Middle East rising over Iran’s nuclear program and the Syrian civil war, the United States and NATO began their largest annual joint-exercise this week, Operation Enduring Freedom.

The exercise is a 365-day event conducted annually since 2001 on Joint Base Afghanistan and involves over 100,000 military personnel from 50 countries as diverse as Albania and Texas, working with another 400,000 host nation forces.

“In an uncertain world, we believe that Enduring Freedom shows that the NATO alliance is still a relevant force,” said International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesman Col. Nick Page.

Enduring Freedom features extremely realistic training in small unit warfare, counterinsurgency, aid distribution, government relations, and improvised explosive device handling. The exercise will also eventually feature the successful transition of security operations from ISAF to local forces from the fictional country of GIROA.