Slovenian troops clear houses during Steadfast Javelin II, a NATO Allied Land Command-led multinational training exercise partly held in Hohenfels, Germany, Sept. 8, 2014. Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes ()
Slovenian troops clear houses during Steadfast Javelin II, a NATO Allied Land Command-led multinational training exercise partly held in Hohenfels, Germany, Sept. 8, 2014. Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes ()
Slovenian troops make a final sweep through the mock town that served as a combat training center during Steadfast Javelin II, a NATO Allied Land Command-led multinational training exercise held partly in Hohenfels, Germany, Sept. 8, 2014. Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes ()
Troops from the Czech Republic and Slovenia converged on a house during the final minutes of a combat training exercise as part of Steadfast Javelin II, a NATO Allied Land Command-led multinational training exercise partly held in Hohenfels, Germany, Sept. 8, 2014. Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes ()
The German portion of Steadfast Javelin II, a NATO Allied Land Command-led multinational training exercise was held at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center at Hohenfels, Germany, Sept. 8, 2014. Part of that exercise involved the diminishing manpower of an embedded force during the course of days-long battle. Here, Slovenian troops load up a ?casualty? during the final minutes of the exercise. Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes ()
HOHENFELS, Germany — A multinational exercise conducted here and in Latvia over the past few days is an example of the kind of training NATO will be undertaking as it shifts focus from Afghanistan to containing the threat from Russia, the commander of NATO Allied Land Command said Monday.
Steadfast Javelin II is a NATO Allied Land Command-led operation that spans the territory of five nations and involves more than 2,000 soldiers from 10 countries. The German leg of the exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center here centered on a protracted ground assault by NATO-forces on a mock township overrun by enemy troops.
Portions of Steadfast Javelin II were conducted in Latvia on Sept. 5, the same day NATO announced plans during a summit in Wales to create a rapid-response force to support eastern allies wary of Russia’s intentions after its incursions in Ukraine.
“I’ve been a NATO soldier for 34 years … and I’ve never seen the alliance more unified than it looks right now,” said LANDCOM commander Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges.
U.S. Army Europe will have a growing focus on NATO-assisted stability operations, Hodges said. NATO’s denouncement of Russia’s actions and reference to Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula as illegal — “those are policy declarations,” Hodges said. “What’s equally as important is to back it up with action.”
That renewed commitment to a unified show of force led to the creation of the NATO rapid-reaction force that LANDCOM will help shape over the coming months. Part of that will happen in conjunction with the evaluation of troops during exercises like Steadfast Javelin II.
“We’re making that transition from ISAF to a campaign to contingency, and we are focused on being able to deter Russian aggression,” Hodges said, referring to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force that will end its combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of the year.
“So this exercise here is part of that, and this is going to be going on all fall,” Hodges said, referring to other planned exercises. Over the next two years, 10 major exercises are planned at Hohenfels, compared with six over the previous two years, in addition to 45 smaller exercises. Hodges said JMRC’s role would likely grow, partly because of the NATO rapid-reaction force.
“For that to be credible, it will have to train a lot, and it will have to practice assembling in different places because it will be multinational. So I am sure that Hohenfels will be one of the places it will train.”
