STAVANGER, Norway – The Main Events List/Main Incidents List (MEL/MIL) Scripting Workshop for the computer-assisted/command post exercise (CAX/CPX) STEADFAST JACKAL 2021 (STJA21) concluded on Friday, September 24, 2021.
Directed by NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), STJA21 will contribute to NATO’s deterrence and defence posture, demonstrating the ability to conduct a non-Article 5 small joint operation (SJO), involving a fictional but realistic adversary contesting the Alliance primarily in the land and cyber domains.
The exercise is a key element of training NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Italy (NRDC-ITA) as a joint headquarters and evaluating the French Joint Force Air Component (JFAC) for the NATO Response Force 22 (NRF22) rotation implementing the new Air Command and Control (C2) concept.
Additional training audiences of STJA21 will include NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM); the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Joint Assessment Team (CBRN-JAT) from the Czech Republic, and the German Special Operations Component Command Headquarters.
Lieutenant Colonel Piotr Puchala, the JWC’s Chief Content for STJA21, noted that the scripters produced challenging exercise content during the workshop, which supports all primary training objectives for over 1,000 participants across NATO later this year.
Puchala noted that engagement in the workshop was high.
“The workshops went really well. It was the first face-to-face event for STJA21 content development, with preventive measures in place to ensure a safe environment, and all participants did their best to achieve what was intended. The collaboration was fantastic and special thanks go to training audience representatives who were able to solve the encountered content-related challenges quickly and efficiently. As the workshop is a success, our requirements for the exercise execution remain high as well.”
During the two-week workshop, the JWC’s exercise planners and external scripters produced realistic operational and tactical dilemmas that cover a broad range of hybrid threats against the Alliance.
As the workshop wrapped up, Lieutenant Colonel Olivier Harrault, the JWC’s Officer of Primary Responsibility for STJA21, said: “More than 700 injects that will challenge the training audiences’ critical C2 skills and decision-making capabilities have been scripted and synchronized using a synthetic scenario developed by the JWC, which centres around a small joint operation."
Harrault added: "Thanks to all participants, especially the subject matter experts provided by the training audiences and those in the Grey Cell, as well as media, opposing forces, intelligence, higher control and targeting, who made a very successful event under the very professional JWC content team leadership. The MEL/MIL Scripting Workshop is the key to the success of the CPX later this year.”
Photos from the event:
