North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
June 18, 2015
NATO Spearhead Demonstrates Capability During EX NOBLE JUMP
Zagan, Poland: NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) was declared operationally functional by General Philip M. Breedlove, Supreme Commander Allied Powers Europe (SACEUR) following the successful conclusion of Exercise NOBLE JUMP in Zagan, Poland on June 18. The exercise marked the first time the new high-readiness unit has deployed and conducted manoeuvres since its inception following the Wales Summit last year.
Exercise Noble Jump, which started on 9 June, tested the rapid deployment capabilities of high readiness units from across the Alliance and their ability to operate together as part of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, also known as the ‘Spearhead Force’.”
The participation of all nations on this exercise today has shown how effective our interoperability training has been, and is an excellent demonstration of our rapid capability,” said General Breedlove. “Our commitment to collective defence is rock solid and I could not be more proud of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and special forces,” he said.
A number of other senior officials were on hand to observe the training manoeuvres on June 18, including: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, defence ministers from Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland, and Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, General Jean-Paul Paloméros.
“I have met troops from nine countries, working as one in this important exercise,” said the Secretary General. He stressed that the purpose of the exercise was to show NATO’s readiness to defend all Allies against any threat in a changed security environment both to the east and the south of NATO’s borders. He made clear that the measures taken by NATO are defensive, proportional, and fully in line with the Alliance’s international commitments.
Units assigned to the VJTF were given orders to deploy on 9 June and will commence redeployment on 19 June. Over 2,100 troops from nine NATO nations participated in the exercise, which continued the process of testing and refining the force. Czech and Dutch air mobile troops, German and Norwegian mechanized infantry, Polish, Lithuanian and Dutch special forces, Belgian artillery, US helicopters and a Hungarian civil military cooperation unit all played a key role.
The concept of employing NATO Force Integration Units (NFIUs) to enhance the ability of high-readiness troops to deploy quickly was also simulated during the exercise. These command and control units, which are currently being established in the Baltic countries, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, are not yet operational, but an exercise element role-played their functions during exercise NOBLE JUMP in order to further develop procedures and refine the conceptual work that has been done to date.
As in Exercise NOBLE JUMP, NFIUs will work in conjunction with host nations to identify logistical networks, transportation nodes and supporting infrastructure to ensure NATO high-readiness forces can deploy into an assigned region as quickly as possible. With the help of NFIUs, some units of the VJTF will be capable of moving in just two days, with most ready to move in less than seven days.
Story by: Allied Command Operations Public Affairs Office.
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