NATO

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STAVANGER, Norway – Rear Admiral Andrew Betton OBE, the Director Joint Warfare at the United Kingdom Strategic Command (UKStratCom), visited NATO Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) on February 9, to meet with Major General Piotr Malinowski, Commander JWC, and to learn more about the Centre's organization and current activities.  

As Director Joint Warfare, Rear Admiral Betton is responsible for the development, training, and evaluation of the UK joint forces. Before assuming the role of the Director Joint Warfare in November 2021, Rear Admiral Betton served as the Deputy Commander of NATO’s Joint Force Command Norfolk.

Rear Admiral Betton was accompanied by Brigadier General Richard Lyne, UKStratCom Head of Joint Force Training and Integration, and his assistant, Navy Captain Rich Marratt; as well as Major Michael Payne, the Military Assistant to the Director.

Following an office call with Major General Malinowski, which was also attended by Brigadier General Mark A. Cunningham, the JWC’s Deputy Commander, and Colonel John Atkins, the JWC’s Head of Exercises, Training and Innovation Directorate, Rear Admiral Betton received a detailed mission briefing by Wing Commander John Rees, focusing on the JWC’s vital role as NATO’s premier training establishment for full-spectrum joint operational- and strategic-level warfare.
 

The visit to the JWC aims to expand the bilateral cooperation between the two organizations on exercises across all domains, warfare development, wargaming and best practices to tackle the challenges facing the NATO Alliance.

 

The briefing also included a presentation on NATO’s largest command post exercise in recent memory: STEADFAST JUPITER 2023, which will be directed by the JWC this autumn.

Rear Admiral Benton then presented a review of UK Strategic Command’s current strategies on training and innovation to prepare the joint forces for the future.

The visit to the JWC aims to expand the bilateral cooperation between the two organizations on exercises across all domains, warfare development, wargaming and best practices to tackle the challenges facing the NATO Alliance.

In the afternoon, following a guided tour of the facilities, Rear Admiral Benton received detailed briefings on the JWC’s wargame design capability and recent wargaming activities, warfare development efforts and as well as a presentation on modelling and simulation. 

October 23, 2023, marks the 20th anniversary of the JWC in Stavanger, Norway. The Centre provides NATO's training focal point for full spectrum joint operational- and strategic-level warfare. As a NATO warfare development centre, the JWC is the hub between Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT) and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), focusing on maintaining NATO's "tip of the spear" readiness as a fighting force, and, concurrently, operationalizing warfare development.  

 

Photos from the Visit

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Major General Piotr Malinowski, Commander JWC, and Rear Admiral Andrew Betton, Director UKStratCom

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