North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
September 12, 2013
JFC BRUNSSUM STEPS UP PREPARATIONS FOR EXERCISE STEADFAST JAZZ 2013
Story by JFC Brunssum Public Affairs Office
On Wednesday, 11 September 2013, Joint Force Command (JFC) Brunssum commenced a 10-day intensive Battle Staff Training (BST) in preparation for the upcoming Exercise Steadfast Jazz 2013 (SFJZ13) that will be held in Latvia and Poland in November.
BST is an important final building block on the way to JFC Brunssum’s NRF 2014 certification.
The serial aims to train Headquarters staff in the practicalities of transition from first deployment to the Initial Command Element (ICE) and Joint Task Force Headquarters (JTFHQ) phase of a mission, integrating augmentees, and practicing the Headquarters’ decision making process as it goes.
The training is supported by NRF 2014 Component Commands and the Joint Warfare Centre.
Planning for SFJZ13 started as long ago as April 2012 when an Exercise Specification Conference was conducted. This was followed by the Initial Planning Conference, held in August 2012, at JFC Brunssum. Importantly, SFJZ13 incorporates a live exercise that will be conducted in Poland.
Since 2012, command of the NATO Response Force (NRF) rotates between NATO’s two Joint Force Commands – Brunssum and Naples – on an annual basis commencing 1st January each year.
JFC Brunssum will be the NRF 2014 Standby Command i.e. if NATO’s most senior decision making body, the North Atlantic Council, direct the activation of the NRF during that period, Commander JFC Brunssum would assume command of assigned forces and his staff would deploy with him to form a Joint Task Force Headquarters. \
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
September 10, 2013
FINAL COORDINATION CONFERENCE FOR EXERCISES STEADFAST JAZZ AND BALTIC HOST 2013
Press release by Latvia Ministry of Defence
The Final Coordination Conference for the upcoming military exercises “Steadfast Jazz 2013” and “Baltic Host 2013” is currently underway in Riga, Latvia.The conference, which is taking place from the 9th – 11th September, includes over 250 participants from NATO military staffs as well as participating nations. This is the final planning event for both exercises which are scheduled for the beginning of November. During the conference the organisation of exercises, including hosting them in Latvia, is being discussed. As announced earlier, NATO and partner nations will conduct exercise “Steadfast Jazz 2013” in Latvia and Poland from 2 – 9 November 2013. The exercise is designed to train and test NATO Response Force (NRF).
The event involves about 6,000 personnel from many Allied and partner nations. A command and control exercise will be conducted at the Adazi Base, Latvia and several other headquarters locations across the Alliance. In addition, the multinational troops will be involved in a live exercise in Poland’s Drawsko Pomorskie Training area. At the conclusion of the exercise, headquarters staff from Joint Force Command Brunssum will be officially certified to lead NATO joint operations in 2014.
The NATO Response Force is a highly ready and technologically advanced multinational force made up of land, air, maritime and Special Forces components that the Alliance can deploy quickly wherever needed.
To date, 17 such NATO Response Force certification exercises have been held, with elements hosted in 14 different countries. The goal is to make sure that NRF troops are ready to deal with any situation in any environment.
In conjunction with “Steadfast Jazz”, exercise “Baltic Host 2013” will be conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It is a Command Post Exercise aimed at training the defence sectors and other state institutions to provide Host Nation Support while receiving the Allied troops. “Baltic Host” exercises have been conducted annually since 2009 and are led by each of the Baltic countries on a rotation basis. Latvia is the leading nation of the exercise this year.
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