A view of the "Old Bridge" in Mostar. The U.S. participants

A view of the "Old Bridge" in Mostar. The U.S. participants of Shared Resilience 2012 toured the city during a cultural day June 3. The "Old Bridge" is an Ottoman bridge from the 16th century that connects the city's two sections across the Neretva River. The original bridge was destroyed in 1993 during the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992-95. The bridge and some buildings in Mostar experienced damage and destruction during the war, but since then, the locals have been rebuilding and renovating. The "Old Bridge" reopened in 2004 because of their efforts. More than 500 military members from nine nations are participating in SR12, the annual U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff sponsored exercise, May 28 - June 8. The goals of the exercise are to strengthen interoperability, facilitate training in crisis response and disaster management, and validate the readiness of deployable military medical and humanitarian assistance teams. The exercise, in the spirit of partnership for peace, directly supports U.S. European Command's theater cooperation efforts and strategy for active security with European countries.