13th Public Affairs Detachment
June 11, 2015
Steadfast Cobalt 15 hosts Distinguished Visitors Day
Story by Sgt. Brandon Anderson
WALCZ, Poland: NATO leaders gathered June 2 in Walcz, Poland to observe Steadfast Cobalt 15, an annual multinational communications exercise.
The visit allowed representatives to see the progress being made in NATO’s communications capabilities, as they toured the grounds of the annual exercise.
Over the past two weeks, about 1,000 exercise participants — nearly twice as many as the previous year — from 24 nations have worked together in a simulated operational environment to build and test their ability to communicate with NATO forces across their various mission command systems.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Welton Chase Jr., director of C4 (Command, Control, Communications, and Computers)/Cyber, U.S. European Command, said during the visit he was proud of the things being accomplished here and looked forward to seeing continued progress in establishing interoperability between the partner nations.
“This exercise really sets the conditions that allow us to work through the details that enable interoperability, and what that translates to for U.S. forces is more capability on the ground,” said Chase. “To understand where we are, where our buddies are, to have that common understanding, and then to mass effects where we need to in order to deter our adversaries.”
On his tour of Steadfast Cobalt, Chase visited with the Soldiers of Company A, 44th Signal Battalion, 2nd Signal Brigade, who have been providing communications support to the U.S. participants.
Spc. Kenneth Bradley, a multichannel transmission systems operator-maintainer assigned to Company A, said having Brig. Gen. Chase come and see their work meant a great deal to him and the other members of his team.
“It’s a good feeling to have him come by and recognize all of our hard work,” said Bradley, who went on to describe their team’s success in providing a fast satellite uplink for the U.S. contingent’s tactical network. “We got up on service interoperability the first time.”
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As the exercise comes to a close later in the week, the U.S. team realizes the work they’ve accomplished thus far will only enhance their ability to work together with other NATO nations and serve as a foundation on which to build.
Reflecting on the work that’s taken place, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Douglas Zadow, chief, Mission Command Support Division of U.S. Army Europe, said the Soldiers here have been able to do great things, but there are lessons they will carry forward for their next mission.
“We’re learning new ways to incorporate NATO into our systems, and it’s a big challenge from the way we’ve done business in the past, but it looks like it’s the way we’ll be doing business in the future when NATO takes the lead and the U.S. is a part of that command,” said Zadow.
Zadow emphasized one of the biggest lessons they’ve learned is that when the U.S. is not in charge, it’s still vital to able to jump in and join a network where they follow another organization’s procedures.
As the U.S. team leaves Steadfast Cobalt 15, they’ll have the opportunity to put the skills they’ve acquired into practice.
The progress achieved during Steadfast Cobalt 15 will directly shape future NATO operations, as this exercise will certify the allies’ communication network for the NATO Response Force, whose culminating annual Exercise Trident Juncture will include over 25,000 troops from multiple partner nations.
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