STAVANGER, Norway – Exercise planners and subject matter experts from the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), and more than 160 external participants completed a week-long Main Events List/Main Incidents List (MEL/MIL) Scripting Workshop today in Stavanger, Norway, providing realistic exercise content that supports all primary training objectives of NATO Exercise STEADFAST JACKAL 2022 (STJA22).
The computer-assisted command post exercise (CAX/CPX), scheduled to be executed in November, will bring together more than 2,000 participants.
Sponsored by Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and directed by the JWC, STJA22 will train and evaluate NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Italy (NRDC-ITA) and its Joint Logistics Support Group (JLSG) in planning and conducting a small joint operation, focusing on the land, air, and cyber domains.
The JWC’s lead planner for STJA22, Lieutenant Colonel James Rossell, said: “We are extremely pleased by the tremendous personnel contributions that are being made to prepare a top quality product during the scripting workshop. The team effort being put forth by NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Italy and all supporting headquarters will ensure this exercise will be a success.”
Exercise STEADFAST JACKAL 2022 is based on a fictitious non-Article 5 scenario created and developed by the JWC, which is designed to train NRDC-ITA’s ability to command and control multinational crisis response operations under NATO’s mandate. In addition to the civilian-military aspect, the exercise also underlines the importance of the information environment.
Pete DuBois, the JWC’s media environment manager for STJA22, explained: “NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Italy will be operating in a complex media environment during the exercise and many of the challenges they will face are created here during the scripting workshop. Our media team works closely with all stakeholders to ensure the news and social media content we create is realistic and in support of the exercise training objectives.”
Ultimately, the two-level (operational and tactical) exercise will help to enhance interoperability among the participating headquarters, and increase understanding of NATO’s comprehensive approach, which highlights the interdependence between civil and military actors, as well as regional nations, involved in crisis response operations.
Colonel Nick Cheetham, NRDC-ITA’s lead trusted agent for STJA22, said: “This workshop is the final and crucial stage in the exercise design and planning process before the execution phase in November 2022. We have over 160 subject matter experts, both military and civilian, from a variety of organizations to provide a real depth and richness to the exercise scenario and ensure that the challenges the joint task force will be confronted with are as realistic as possible.”
Colonel Cheetham added: “The guidance and structure provided by the JWC staff have been critical in the success of this MEL/MIL Scripting Workshop. I am extremely happy with how the event has progressed and am sure we are now set up for a successful execution phase in November.”
During the event, both Lieutenant General Lorenzo D'Addario, Commander NRDC-ITA, and his Deputy Commander, Major General Jez Bennett, paid a visit to the JWC. They were welcomed by Major General Piotr Malinowski, Commander JWC, and the JWC's new Deputy Commander, Brigadier General Mark A. Cunningham, respectively.
Lieutenant General Lorenzo D'Addario, Commander NRDC-ITA and Major General Piotr Malinowski, Commander JWC
Major General Jez Bennett visiting the JWC. He was welcomed by Brigadier General Mark A. Cunningham, the JWC's Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff
