STAVANGER, Norway – TRIDENT JUPITER 19-1 (TRJU19-1), a two-level (strategic/operational) Computer-Assisted Command Post Exercise involving personnel from more than 30 NATO Member and Partner Nations, as well as governmental and international organizations, began on November 5, 2019. 

 

The exercise, sponsored by NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and directed by the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), demonstrates the Alliance’s commitment to collective defence and security in a complex threat environment based on a fictitious Article 5 scenario, including training themes such as civil protection, civil-military cooperation and emergency preparedness that are closely linked to the total defence concept. 

TRJU19-1 will test and evaluate the ability of land, maritime, air, and special operations component commands of the NATO Response Force 2020 (NRF20) to plan and conduct Small Joint Operations within a designated joint operations area and certify the Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) as a NATO Expanded Task Force.

TRJU19-1 is the first iteration of NATO’s groundbreaking TRIDENT JUPITER 19 Exercise Campaign, which consists of two linked Computer-Assisted Command Post Exercises directed by the JWC, as well as the one-level (tactical/land-centric) LOYAL LEDA, which will be directed by the Joint Force Training Centre in 2020.

TRJU19-1 will involve twelve Training Audiences at nine different exercise locations across Europe, including USS Mount Whitney, the command and control ship for STRIKFORNATO. 

More than 3,000 civilian and military staff will work together in the exercise as participants, evaluators and observers.

German Navy Rear Admiral Jan C. Kaack, Commander JWC and the Exercise Director (EXDIR), highlighted the unique scope, complexity and operational requirements of the TRIDENT JUPITER 19 Exercise Campaign in his opening remarks at the Exercise Control (EXCON) Training Event on November 2.

“TRIDENT JUPITER 19 is the largest and most complex exercise planned and executed by the JWC to date; including all essential elements of today’s combined joint operations,” explained Rear Admiral Kaack. 

“This exercise is designed at Small Joint Operations scale in order to test NATO Forces’ responsiveness as well as the robustness of their combined command and control capabilities, which are essential for NATO's deterrence and defence posture.”

Kaack added: “TRIDENT JUPITER 19 will provide NATO Allies and Partners unique simulated training opportunities. It will also further strengthen the warfighting readiness and high-end skill sets of the NATO Response Force.”  

The fictitious but realistic Article 5 scenario of the exercise, called OCCASUS, supports the specific Exercise and Training Objectives of the different Training Audiences, testing them in all domains of warfare and addressing key aspects of NATO-led combined joint operations, ranging from Small Joint Operations to Major Joint Operations Plus.  

“TRIDENT JUPITER 19 will provide NATO Allies and Partners unique simulated training opportunities. It will also further strengthen the warfighting readiness and high-end skill sets of the NATO Response Force.” 
- Rear Admiral Jan C. Kaack, Commander JWC

The JWC OPR perspective: 22-months of planning and teamwork

Danish Army Lieutenant Colonel Bo Andersen, the JWC’s Officer of Primary Responsibility (OPR) for the TRIDENT JUPITER 19 Exercise Campaign, said: “We started the planning for the exercise 22 months ago. It has been a very intense but rewarding period.”

Andersen noted that the desired end-state for the JWC’s OPR team was to “deliver top-of-the-range training and exercise opportunities at the operational and strategic levels, and to enable certification of the NATO Response Force 2020 as well as the NATO Expanded Task Force.”

Andersen underlined, “This has been a true team effort,” saying: “Collectively and across the NATO Command and Force Structures, we have managed to create a new, realistic, and operationally-challenging framework, which will test our capabilities, help to increase the level of understanding and cooperation between our different units and organizations, and last but not least, test our interoperability and responsiveness as an Alliance.”

Andersen pointed out that the JWC continued to refine exercise design for the next iteration of the Campaign, TRIDENT JUPITER 19-2, which is scheduled to take place in March 2020. 

“Naturally, being the OPR for such a big exercise is very time-consuming but it is also an eye opener because through training we understand better how the strategic and operational levels work together,” Andersen said.

He added: “Having been the lead planner at the JWC for two exercises previously, my personal opinion is that success is only possible because we put our hearts and minds into our efforts both as individuals and as a team. The scope and complexity of this exercise is testimony to what we can achieve together.”

"The scope and complexity of this exercise is testimony to what we can achieve together."

Subordinate to Allied Command Transformation (ACT) in Norfolk, Virginia, the United States, the JWC is the premier collective training establishment of the Alliance at the operational level.

As NATO’s full-spectrum, cross-functional operational-level training and warfare centre in the North, the JWC is committed to ensuring the operational readiness of NATO staffs and their commanders.

The Centre plans and delivers joint operational-level training, while, at the same time, it actively supports concept and doctrine development, NATO lessons learned processes and integration of experimentation into exercises, with the aim of strengthening the Alliance's interoperability, capabilities and operational effectiveness.

ACT’s mission is to contribute to preserving the peace, security and territorial integrity of Alliance member states by leading the warfare development of military structures, forces, capabilities and doctrines.

From its inception in 2003, ACT demonstrated the importance placed by NATO Nations on the roles of transformation and development as continuous and essential drivers for change – drivers of change that will ensure the relevance of the Alliance in a rapidly evolving and complex global security environment.

Photos from Exercise TRIDENT JUPITER 19-1, Stavanger, Norway

Rear Admiral Jan C. Kaack, Commander Joint Warfare Centre and the Exercise Director

Lieutenant Colonel Bo Andersen (right), the Joint Warfare Centre's OPR for TRIDENT JUPITER 19

On November 2, Rear Admiral Jan C. Kaack welcomed to the Joint Warfare Centre ten retired Flag Officers who will support the exercise as Senior Mentors, including General (Ret.) Karl-Heinz Lather, NATO’s Lead Senior Mentor.

The OPR team claims that the mascot for TRIDENT JUPITER 2019 is from NASA!