Photo By Staff Sgt. Lorene Mauro | Belgium Army Brig. Gen. Michele Pihard (center) deputy chief of staff for operations...... read more read more
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HOHENFELS, Germany – Rapid Reaction Corps – France is participating in Combined Resolve VIII as the higher command element here during phase three of the exercise May 24, 2017 to June 16, 2017.
Based in the French city of Lille close to the Belgian border, RRC-France is a French headquarters with multinational officers and noncommissioned officers able to be employed in NATO, European Union, French or other operations by the French government to undertake combined and joint operations across the operational spectrum as a Corps or Land Component HQ.
Of the organization’s nearly 400 members there are more than 80 multinational officers representing 12 NATO countries. For Combined Resolve VIII, RRC-France sent 34 service members from France, Hungary, Belgium, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
“Recently … RRC-France was certified by NATO as a Joint Task Force Headquarters, assuming both the functional capability of a Joint Theater Headquarters and the capabilities of a Land Component Command to conduct what NATO calls Smaller Joint Operations Land Heavy,” said French Army Col. François-Xavier Bottet, chief of staff for RRC-France.
Due to their NATO certification, RRC-France serving as the exercise higher command offers the opportunity to train to specific validated NATO standards which helps the unit meet the objective of enhancing interoperability with allies in a NATO led operations, said Bottet.
RRC-France’s main purpose here is to give the training audience in the field a NATO interface as a higher headquarters and introduce NATO standards and procedures, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Will Canda, the operations officer in-charge for RRC-France.
This exercise provides a unique opportunity for everyone involved, said Canda, because the brigade training in the field is accustomed to having a U.S. division as a higher headquarters and the members of RRC-France typically participate in exercises with simulated subordinate units.
“Here we have actual subordinate units giving us real-time reports, feedback and [requests for information] that challenge us beyond someone sitting in a room somewhere giving us scripted [events],” said Canda.
“Interacting with Soldiers conducting training operations in the field provides us with a great opportunity to reconnect with the realities of the conditions they face when executing the orders we produce,” added Bottet.
This exercise gives this NATO Force Structure organization a chance to operate more directly with the U.S. Army effort in Europe, said Canda.
“This is us working together and getting a better understanding on how each of us operates,” said Canda. “Here at JMRC they work interoperability down to a very tactical level,” he continued.
Inside the Division Tactical Operations Center, Soldiers can operate both NATO and Army systems, giving them valuable lessons learned that RRC-France will take back and share with France and other NATO headquarters, and that U.S. Army forces can share with their counterparts, said Canda.
“So what we’re doing here is stressing the interoperability between NATO and the U.S. [Regionally Allocated Force],” continued Canda.
“The biggest take away from doing this is that this exercise takes us out of our comfort zone and what we’re used to and helps us interact with our partners in new ways,” said Canda, “That way we all learn and all get better together.”
| Date Taken: | 06.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.03.2017 07:18 |
| Story ID: | 236133 |
| Location: | BY, DE |
| Web Views: | 111 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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