Commander of the Allied Joint Force Command () Gen Wolf Langheld paying visit on November 4 to the NATO exercise held in Lithuania met with Lt Gen Arvydas Pocius, Chief of Defence of Lithuania.
Commander JFC thanked Lithuania for rendering host nation support during Steadfast Juncture 2011. "We have achieved more than it was expected and the requirements were not low," commented Gen W. Langheld on the exercise which began on November 1.
During the meeting Lithuania's contribution to the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan and the new NATO's command structure were also addressed.
From November 1 to 12 Exercise Steadfast Juncture 2011 organised by the Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) in Brunssum (the Netherlands) proceeds in the Lithuanian Armed Forces Pabradės Training Area.
The exercise is held simultaneously in seven NATO member states - Greece, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Germany and Norway, it involves approximately 2,2 troops, approximately 400 of them train in Lithuania.
Steadfast Juncture 2011 is a NATO command post exercise 2011 aimed at certifying NATO Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFC) Headquarters and Allied Force Command (FC) Headquarters Heidelberg Deployable Joint Staff Element (DJSE 2) to command and control a multinational deployed force for NATO Response Force (NRF) 2012 standby period. The exercise will follow a scenario of a NATO-led crisis-response operation and delivery of humanitarian assistance on a United Nations' mandate.
NATO Response Force is high-readiness technologically advanced capability integrating land, air, naval and special operations forces elements, and tailored for speedy deployment within a particularly short period to operations theatres in any part of the globe.
Capt Skomantas Povilionis
