The NATO Georgia Exercise 16 is nearing completion. This is a landmark event that seeks to strengthen Georgia’s self-defense, deterrence, and resilience capabilities. NATO Georgia Exercise 16 represents NATO’s collective commitment to support Georgia’s defense building programs. The exercise is a step into the future – with the aim to develop a long-term vision for future security arrangements and exercises in cooperation with NATO and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). One objective of NATO Georgia Exercise 16 is to enhance and promote regional stability in the Black Sea region. Another goal of NATO-GEO EX16 is to train the Georgian Armed Forces (GAF) general staff in planning and conducting an exercise.
The NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) [1] located at Norfolk, Virginia is sponsoring the Computer Assisted Exercise / Command Post Exercise (CAX/CPX). A key component of the training support (exercise design, exercise control, etc.) is provided by the NATO Joint Forces Training Center (JFTC) [2] located in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The commander of JFTC – Major General Grun – was present for the exercise as were a number of high-level NATO officers. The staff of JFTC has been responsible for exercise design, development and execution. The military officers, non-commissioned officers, civilian staff, and contractors [3] of JFTC have been working on the design and development of the NATO Georgia Exercise 16 for several months.
In October 2015 the NATO Military Commitee approved a Bi-Strategic Command assessment and recommended that NATO conduct periodic exercises in Georgia. The training is being conducted at the Joint Training and Evaluation Center in Krtsanisi, Georgia. Key players in the exercise development and execution include HQ, Allied Command Transformation (ACT), NATO’s Joint Force Training Center, Georgian Armed Forces, HQ LANDCOM, and other organizations. Participating countries include the United States, Macedonia, Ukraine, Belgium, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, United Kingdom, Turkey, Bulgaria, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Slovenia.
Georgia is located in Southwestern Asia – bordering the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia. The country is small in comparison with Turkey or Russia . . . but it occupies a strategic slice of land in that region of the world. Bordering countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Turkey.
[1] The North Atlantic Treaty Organization Allied Command Transformation is located in Norfolk, Virginia. The mission of ACT is to lead at the strategic level the transformation of military structures, forces, capabilities, and doctrines to improve the military effectiveness of NATO.
www.act.nato.int
[2] Joint Forces Training Centre (JFTC) located in Bydgoszcz, Poland supports training for NATO and Partner forces with the objective of improving joint and combined tactical interoperability.
www.jftc.nato.int
[3] Cadence Consultancy has provided several contractors who have had a leading role in the design, development and execution of several NATO exercises to include NATO Georgia Exercise 16. http://cadenceconsultancy.com
