North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
March 28, 2014
EXERCISE ARRCADE RECCE CONCLUDED THIS WEEK IN ITALY
Story by HQ ARRC Public Affairs Office
Pisa, ITALY: Headquarters, Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC) completed a one-week training exercise in Tuscany, Italy on Thursday, 27 March 2014.
Exercise ARRCADE RECCE saw over 40 multinational ARRC personnel deploy to Pisa to conduct a training exercise designed to test the short-notice, rapid deployment of the Innsworth, United Kingdom-based headquarters’ reconnaissance elements.
The multinational personnel participating in the exercise spent the week traveling to many locations throughout the greater Tuscany area, from Genoa in the north, to Grossetto in the south, all in an effort to practice the NATO rapid deployment headquarters’ deployment (logistics, transportation-related) and reach-back (communications-related) tasks and procedures.
During the exercise, HQ personnel were required to train not only the ARRC’s ability to set up and utilise the HQ’s state-of-the art communications equipment (communicating with SHAPE/NATO, the ARRC in the UK, etc.), but also to conduct necessary recces of the surrounding area to establish potential follow-on locations for deploying command posts, enablers, and the main force.
To do this, ARRC personnel visited airports, seaports, military bases, and met with a plethora of local and regional civic leaders, all of whom agreed in advance to assist the ARRC in their exercise by ‘acting out’ different roles in the exercise’s scenario.
Ultimately, the training event was designed to simulate a real ARRC deployment, at the beginning of which the ARRC would traditionally deploy its Operational Liaison and Reconnaissance Teams (OLRT) in advance of the rest of the headquarters in order to get everything ready and coordinate any/all logistics/transportation/etc. needs before the rest of the multinational headquarters deploys.
“This exercise was an excellent opportunity for us to not only practice our ability to plan for and conduct an operational deployment, but to work with one of our Partner Nations – Italy, said ARRC spokesman Major Chris Hyde.
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