A contingent of
LANDCOM personnel joined Exercise DACIAN GUARDIAN 17 at the Headquarters of NATO
Multinational Division South East to serve as the commands higher echelon and
exercise LANDCOM’s readiness to deploy a headquarters element to conduct land
operations and synchronize the command and control of NATO land forces.
Exercise DACIAN
GUARDIAN 17 in Bucharest, Romania, is a component of SABER GUARDIAN 2017, the
largest of the Black Sea training events this summer, conducted in partnership
between NATO and the US Army Forces in Europe. That larger exercise with over
25,000 personnel is taking place at numerous locations throughout Bulgaria,
Hungary and Romania, being a training venue for the collective defense,
increasing partner capacity and improving interoperability.
"This exercise
is beneficial to both LANDCOM and Multinational Division South East
Headquarters,” said Chief Warrant Officer Stephen Rice, LANDCOMs Senior
Enlisted Advisor. "It allows us to exercise our ability to serve as a higher
headquarters for MND-SE which is extremely helpful to the subordinate command
as the primary training audience, and it exercises LANDCOM’s ability to deploy
a small portion of the headquarters to serve as a command and control node for
the conduct and synchronization of land operations.”
For LANDCOM,
Exercise DACIAN GUARDIAN is one of several stepping stones leading up to its
own evaluation Exercise TRIDENT JAVELIN, which will occur in October of this
year primarily at the Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway.
The
comprehensive support offered by LANDCOM at Exercise DACIAN GUARDIAN 17, helps contribute
to the development of the current NATO assurance and deterrence capabilities, and
enhances NATO aptitude to keep a safe and secure environment within the Southeast
region of NATO.
"I think the
training was mutually beneficial for all involved,” said Rice. "These types of
opportunities help both the higher and lower command, and I think this is
definitely something we should sustain in the future as we continue to improve
our ability to both serve as land advocates for the Alliance, and serve as a
potential command and control headquarters for NATO land forces.”