North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Rapid Reaction Corps
November 14, 2013
HQ ARRC heading to Cornwall for major training exercise
Close to 1000 personnel assigned to Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC) will depart this weekend to begin a major training exercise at RAF St. Mawgan, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom.
Named Exercise ARRCADE FUSION 13, the training event is designed to ensure the Innsworth-based NATO headquarters continues to remain ready for any potential short-notice call-up it may receive as part of the NATO Response Force (NRF) this year.
Occurring 17-29 November, FUSION will see the headquarters commanding four divisions and three separate brigade headquarters from across Europe and North America.
This will be the first time that the ARRC has conducted a training exercise on this scale since the unit moved from its former location in Germany to the UK in 2010.
Participating in this exercise will be units and troops from ARRC Partner Nations Denmark, Canada, Italy, the United States and Portugal, as well as personnel from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and New Zealand – all-in-all totalling some 2000 military and civilian personnel.
Additionally, FUSION will present the headquarters with an opportunity to begin training for the ARRC’s next challenge, that of becoming an Integrated Land Command, or ILC.
A new operational concept conceived by NATO, the ILC builds a land-centric headquarters, like the ARRC, into an element capable of commanding an entire military theatre of operations. For ARRC, this means adding both air and maritime personnel to its structure so that it can command air, land, and sea troops.
To this end, military personnel from the UK’s Royal Air Force and Royal Navy will train with the ARRC and its many subordinate units for this exercise.
NATO has tasked the ARRC to train this way because in 2015 the HQ will be the first NATO rapid deployable corps held by NATO on short-notice, rapid recall (similar to the NRF) for rapid response to any/all mission that may develop during the year (2015).
“FUSION presents the ARRC with an outstanding opportunity to push the edge of the envelope and grow a bit as an organisation,” said ARRC spokesman Major Chris Hyde. “As NATO’s first rapid deployment corps, ARRC has always championed both its readiness and passionate willingness to pioneer new concepts and challenge the norm.”
Additional notes for the Editor:
HQ ARRC is currently on stand-by for short-notice call-up and subsequent rapid deployment (5 days notice to move) in support of any potential NATO Response Force (NRF) mission that may develop during 2013.
The NRF is comprised of three parts: a command and control element from the NATO Command Structure; the Immediate Response Force, a joint force of about 13,000 high-readiness troops provided by Allies; and a Response Forces Pool, which can supplement the Immediate Response Force when necessary. The NRF traditionally comprises land, air and sea components provided by NATO members.
As an NRF Land Component Command, or LCC, the ARRC will essentially be in command of all land combat troops on the ground during an NRF deployment.
HQ ARRC is a NATO Rapid Deployment Corps headquarters, founded in 1992 in Germany, and headquartered in Gloucestershire since August 2010.
Although HQ ARRC’s ‘framework nation’ is the United Kingdom, comprising approximately 60% of the overall staff, the ARRC is fully multinational in nature and organization, with 15 Partner Nations contributing the remaining complement of personnel (Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the United States).
Source