North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Land Command
December 1, 2014
Allied Land Command takes part in Exercise Trident Lance 2014
IZMIR, Turkey: NATO’s Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) is participating in Exercise TRIDENT LANCE 2014, which is currently underway at the Joint Multinational Training Command (JMTC) in Grafenwoehr, Germany.
The exercise, which involves close to 4,000 personnel, will test NATO’s ability to coordinate and execute a NATO-led Article 5 Collective Defence operation in a multinational environment. It also serves to certify land-based command and control elements for potential NATO operational deployments based on high-intensity, war fighting conditions.
“Our job at Allied Land Command is to ensure the land forces of NATO are ready to deal with any threats to the Alliance,” said Lt. Gen. John Nicholson, LANDCOM Commander. “Over the next 2 weeks, we will be conducting an exercise which will be the first multi-Corps NATO exercise since the end of the Cold War, focused on protecting the territorial integrity of NATO members.”
TRIDENT LANCE includes NATO’s SKOLKAN scenario, a scenario that requires Article V collective defence of a NATO member within a notional European region. The scenario was commissioned by Supreme Allied Commander Europe and designed by the Joint Warfare Centre. The scenario challenges the command and control structure, while overcoming gaps to process and capabilities. Events to be redressed and enhanced, as NATO Forces and troop contributing nations negotiate the best ways to defend sovereign territory and a NATO member.
The challenges presented in the fictional SKOLKAN scenario include hybrid warfare, theatre-ballistic missile defence, cyber defence and chemical, biological and radiological defence.
“The ability to operate together, specifically multinational forces conducting complex operations, is critical,” said Lt. Gen. Nicholson. “The ability to have an expeditionary logistics capability, air and ground forces integration, and the ability to rapidly deploy to threatened areas require adaptation on the part of the Alliance to be able to do that. And this training is a step to improve our skills.”
Exercise TRIDENT LANCE 2014 wraps up on 13 December.
Story by SHAPE and HQ LANDCOM Public Affairs Offices
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