North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Maritime Command
September 17, 2014
STANDING NATO MARITIME GROUP TASK UNIT 02 SHIPS VISITED CONSTANTA, ROMANIA
CONSTANTA, Romania: Last weekend under the banner of Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) Task Unit 02 (TU02), HMCS TORONTO, ESPS ALMIRANTE JUAN DE BORBON and ROS REGELE FERNIDAND have completed their 4 days visit to Constanta, Romania. The port visit served to reaffirm the Alliance’s commitment to maritime defence and security and reassure Black Sea NATO Allies.
“Our ships were honoured and humbled to be a part of NATO’s maritime visit to the historic city as Constanta, Romania,” said Commander Jason Armstrong, Commanding Officer of HMCS TORONTO and Commander of SNMG2 Task Unit 02 (SNMG2 TU02). “Our presence here serves to reaffirm NATO’s strong support and commitment to Alliance solidarity.”
…
The port visit initiates the following week’s maritime patrols and exercises between participating nations that will increase the interoperability, flexibility and understanding amongst NATO and partner nations.
Story by: MARCOM Public Affairs Office and HMCS Toronto PAO.
Background information:
SNMG2 is a multinational, integrated maritime force – made up of vessels from various allied nations, training and operating together as a single team. The Group is permanently available to NATO to perform a wide range of tasks, from participating in exercises to crisis response and real world operational missions. The Force is employed in the Mediterranean area but, as required, will be available anywhere NATO requires it to deploy to, like in Indian Ocean in Operation Ocean Shield.
Composition of the Force varies as naval units are provided by NATO contributing nations on a rotational basis while Command of the Force rotates amongst Nations. COMSNMG2 reports to the Commander of Allied Maritime Command.
SNMG2 carries out a continuous programme of operational training and conducts port visits in and out of the Mediterranean and elsewhere, in both NATO and non-NATO nations. These include ports in nations that are part of the Partnership for Peace, Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative programmes.
NATO has two Standing Maritime Groups (SNMGs) and two Standing Mine Countermeasure Groups (SNMCMGs). The Groups provide the Alliance with a continuous maritime capability for NATO Response Force (NRF) operations, non-NRF operations and other activities in peacetime and periods of crisis and conflict. The primary role of these Forces, as standing elements of their respective NRF, is the full integration and participation in the NRF, providing maritime support to operations.
Other missions that are applicable to both SNMGs and SNMCMGs include establishing Alliance presence, demonstrating solidarity, conducting routine diplomatic visits to member, partner and non-NATO countries, supporting transformation and providing a variety of maritime military capabilities to ongoing missions.
NATO Forces currently in SNMG2:
TASK UNIT 01: USS LEYTE GULF (CG 55) – UNITED STATESTCG KEMALREIS (F 247) – TURKEYFGS NIEDERSACHSEN (F 208) – GERMANY
TASK UNIT 02: HMCS TORONTO (FFH 333) – CANADA (currently deployed in the Black Sea)ALMIRANTE JUAN DE BORBON (F 102) – SPAIN (currently deployed in the Black Sea)ROS REGELE FERDINAND (F 221) – ROMANIA (currently deployed in the Black Sea)
Source