NATO Response Force to Conduct Live Exercises In Baltic Region

NATO, Germany, Poland, Denmark and NATO Partner country Sweden will host a NATO Response Forces (NRF) exercise May 14-25 which will take place simultaneously on sea, land and air in the North Sea, Kattegat, Danish Straits, and the Southern Baltic Sea. 
 
The mission involves a fictional scenario made up of three exercises dubbed Noble Mariner, Noble Award and Kindred Sword. Under the scenario, the NRF has been summoned to respond to an escalating conflict inside a divided country. 
 
Simulating an escalating situation 
 
As the troops participating in the exercise respond to the emergency, operating under a UN mandate off the coast of Poland, they quickly find themselves facing terrorist acts by extremist groups, a dispute over oil and gas reserves, smuggling of weapons, possible chemical weapons, refugees and displaced persons and religious and ethnic cleansing. 
 
The exercises involve maritime, land and air components and are designed the Response Force for the real-life situations, whether it is a humanitarian relief operation, providing a security or assistance force to stabilise a situation, or a crisis response operation requiring the full spectrum of military force. 
 
A key aspects is seamlessly integrating combined land, sea and air force in a joint response to a complex scenario. 
 
“In order to fulfil these complex expeditionary missions, our multinational forces train and exercise together on a regular basis, constantly enhancing their planning, co-ordination and teamwork skills,” said Admiral Sir Brunell-Nugents, Commander of Allied Maritime Component Northwood. 
 
In June 2006 exercise Steadfast Jaguar in the Cape Verde Islands, which included land, air and maritime units, compromising over 6000 troops, proved to be an important milestone for the NRF, testing its ability to deploy well outside the Alliance’s traditional areas of operation.