Directed by NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), the computer assisted command post exercise (CAX/CPX) TRIDENT JUNCTURE 16 (TRJE16) is currently taking place in various locations across Europe as well as onboard NATO ship FS Tonnerre afloat.
TRJE16 will train and certify Allied Joint Force Command Naples (JFC Naples) to assume command of the 2017 NATO Response Force (NRF), together with its Component Commands.
Overall, the exercise demonstrates NATO's ability to plan and execute a Major Joint Operation across the conventional, unconventional and hybrid spectrum of warfare based on the fictitious SKOLKAN training scenario, which provides a complex Article 5 Collective Defence setting.
In his welcoming remarks on 19 October, Polish Army Major General Andrzej Reudowicz, Commander JWC and the Exercise Director said: “TRJE16 is designed to certify the full operational capability of JFC Naples to lead NRF 17 as we adapt our forces to the new security challenges. In this respect, JWC takes its leading role in NATO’s operational-level training very seriously.”
TRJE16 implements a strong Comprehensive Approach to the planning and execution of a Major Joint Operation and it will train the participating HQs in a very complex and dynamic information battle-space using top-notch media simulation capabilities. TRJE16 will also train and analyze the Alliance on Transformational capabilities including Strategic Communications and Space Support to Exercises.
Under JFC Naples’ command and control, NRF 17 involves Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC), Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO), Allied Air Command (AIRCOM), NATO Special Operations HQ (NSHQ) and the Joint Logistics Support Group (JLSG).
JWC’s Deputy Exercise Director for TRJE16, British Army Colonel Stephen Williamson, said: “This is my 12th and final exercise at the JWC and the first one we have delivered entirely within our optimized structure. I expect a great exercise that will allow the respective Training Audiences, and in particular JFC Naples, to improve the quality of their operational staff processes and allow them to easily meet the criteria to justify their certification, whilst offering them a diverse range of challenges throughout the exercise. I say that because that is what we, the JWC, are here to enable, and I believe we have a justifiable reputation of delivering.”
The TRIDENT JUNCTURE series of exercises provides NATO's exercise and training framework to prepare and certify NATO's two operational headquarters, JFC Naples and JFC Brunssum, to command and control the NATO Response Force each year.
As NATO's principal facilitator for the computer-assisted command post exercises (CPX/CAX), Commander JWC serves as the Officer Directing the Exercise (ODE) during all TRIDENT exercises.