English: A Kazakhstan soldier, armed with 5.45 mm AK-74 assault rifle, mans a check point during the start of Central Asian Peacekeeping Battalion (CENTRASBAT) 2000. CENTRASBAT 2000 is a multi-national peacekeeping and humanitarian relief exercise sponsored by United States Central Command (US CENTCOM) and hosted by the former Soviet Republic Kazakhstan in Central Asia, 11-20 September 2000. Exercise participants include approximately 300 US troops including personnel from US CENTCOM, the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and 5th Special Forces Group, Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and 300 Kazakhstan soldiers. Other participating nations include: Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, The United Kingdom, Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Mongolia. CENTRASBAT originated in 1996, and was established to form a joint battalion of soldiers from the former Soviet Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan and Uzbekistan to serve as a key component in developing a regional security and cooperation structure. CENTRASBAT 2000 will test US and Central Asian unit's combat readiness and ability to conduct peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, as well as develop and build cooperative relationships between the respective states and assist in laying the foundation for future peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. Almaty, Kazakhstan (KAZ), 15 September 2000.