NCI Agency CSU Stavanger, Norway, provided crucial support during Trident Jaguar 2016, a joint headquarters exercise testing the units' ability to work together in the face of a security crisis.
The main focus of the exercise was to test the ability of NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Turkey to take on a Joint Task Force Headquarters (JTF HQ) role. CSU Stavanger held a number of essential roles at different stages of Trident Jaguar 2016. It provided communications and information systems (CIS) support to Joint Force Command (JFC) Brunssum, Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) J6 throughout the exercise from February 2015 until May 2016.
It delivered the IT infrastructure and CIS support for locally hosted events, and it also established a local Event Support Desk with its own supervisors, four augmenters from US Navy Reserves, and two augmenters from 426 Airbase Support.
Information sharing with NATO Nations and partners
Trident Jaguar 2016 tested the Alliance's military capacity and readiness. It is one of a number of yearly, multinational exercises aimed at improving joint forces' ability to coordinate resources and synchronize assets. Being able to share information quickly between NATO Nations and partners, is essential in order to tackle changing and complex security threats, as it allows commanders to quickly choose an appropriate course of action.
Full operational capability
As many as 380 Exercise Control (EXCON) participants took part in the Command Post Exercise (CPX) of Trident Jaguar 2016 in Stavanger and about 100 EXCON participants and about 500 Training Audience (TA) in Istanbul. A CPX is a computer assisted simulation with no live fire or manoeuvre exercises associated. This one was directed by Officer Directing the Exercise (ODE) at Joint Warfare Center in Stavanger.
CIS provision included deployable communications and information systems (DCIS), provided by NATO CIS Group (NCISG), in combination with existing static infrastructure mainly in Stavanger and Istanbul. In addition and in order to provide the Turkish national C2 System Land Environment Tactical Communications and Information Systems (TacCIS) for the Land Response Cell at Stavanger, three TACCIS servers were build and configured on the NATO static domain in Stavanger.
At the end of Trident Jaguar's Command Post Exercise, NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Turkey (NRDC-TUR) headquarters achieved the NATO Response Force (NRF) certification. This means that NRDC-TUR is now fully operationally capable to take over the NATO Joint Task Force rotation for the next two years.