Christine Sagen Helgø, the Honourable Mayor of Stavanger, visited Joint Warfare Centre’s Ulsnes Interim Training Facility this morning to meet with Major General Jean Fred Berger, Commander JWC, and observe the execution of this year’s final International Security Assistance Force Headquarters Training Event (ISAF TE 11-02).

During the visit to Ulsnes, Major General Berger took the opportunity to highlight the warm welcome extended to the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) by the Stavanger community. Following the welcome by Major General Berger, the Mayor was briefed on the ongoing ISAF exercise by the JWC command leadership and was escorted to the Exercise Centre (EXCEN) and the Combined Joint Operations Centre (CJOC) respectively to observe the training of NATO’s operational battlestaff before their imminent deployment to Afghanistan.

The Mayor then participated in a discussion focused on one of NATO’s most current issues in Afghanistan: Gender Awareness.

“I am very glad I got the opportunity to visit the Joint Warfare Centre at Ulsnes; it has been interesting and useful. The Joint Warfare Centre is a very important part of the international city Stavanger. I look forward to future cooperation,” said Mayor Christine Sagen Helgø.

ISAF TE 11-02 is a high-intensity and comprehensive training event that started on Friday 2 December and is involving approximately 800 military and civilian personnel. It has trained personnel from several NATO headquarters as well as selected individual augmentees from NATO Troop Contributing Nations. During the exercise, so far, the Training Audience addressed 1,775 injects, each dealing with a specific topic designed to prepare NATO’s operational battlestaff for the experiences and operational tempo they can expect in Afghanistan.