STAVANGER, Norway – The Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) has made major strides in audacious wargaming since it declared full operational capability for wargaming design in May 2022.
With Exercise STEADFAST FOXTROT 2023 (STFX23) – NATO’s first-ever logistics wargame – the JWC emerges as the centrepiece for training NATO’s enablement community at the operational and strategic levels.
Over 170 military and civilian personnel throughout NATO, including Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC), and Allied Joint Force Command Naples; nations, international partners, as well as the United States European Command (US EUCOM) participated in the wargame, which wrapped up on November 10.
Sponsored by SHAPE and directed by the JWC, STFX23 aimed to provide players with a greater understanding of the various roles, responsibilities, and authorities shared by NATO headquarters across SACEUR’s Area of Responsibility (AOR).
The wargame addressed the movement of reinforcements and materiel within and across NATO nations, their sustainability, as well as interactions with civilian, governmental, and non-governmental organizations in a dynamic and complex security environment.
It showcased NATO’s commitment to maintaining an agile defence posture in the Euro-Atlantic area, focusing on the large-scale Reception, Staging, and Onward Movement (RSOM) of NATO forces in SACEUR’s Area of Responsibility (AOR).
STFX23 also explored how NATO’s enablement community can best prepare for tomorrow’s challenges related to strategic and operational level enablement and sustainment.
Lieutenant Colonel Travis, the JWC’s Wargaming Branch Head and wargame designer for STFX23, explained that the wargame provided a prime venue to exercise critical aspects of sustainment in a multi-national, multi-domain environment across the spectrum of conflict.
Travis said: “STEADFAST FOXTROT 2023 was the most important training event for NATO sustainment since the LIVEX of TRIDENT JUNCTURE 2018. Never before have we been able to gather so many excellent logisticians from across the Alliance to tackle these tough questions of sustainment in both competitive and contested environments. The STFX23 wargames emphasized the national responsibility for logistics and forced NATO to take a hard look at not just who is in charge, but also how do we take charge of sustainment at the theatre level.”
He added: “These wargames represent a major step forward for JSEC and NATO. No longer can we just talk about and admire the sustainment problems confronting the Alliance. Now we are taking action to address those challenges and advancing our plans and doctrine to keep pace with the new reality of security in Europe.”
But the JWC Wargaming Branch, SHAPE J4, and JSEC team are not resting upon their laurels. Work has already begun on moulding STEADFAST FOXTROT 2024/2025 to build upon this year’s activity and keep progress moving forward!
