Combined Endeavor 2011 set to start

PATCH BARRACKS, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY

09.07.2011

Courtesy Story

Combined Endeavor

PATCH BARRACKS, Stuttgart, Germany -- Combined Endeavor 2011, a multinational command, control communications and computer systems exercise designed to build and enhance communications and network interoperability, will be held Sept. 9-22, 2011, in Grafenwoehr, Germany.

This year, 40 NATO and Partnership for Peace countries will participate in the annual exercise. The theme for this year is Coalition Information Dominance. According to this year’s exercise director, Lt. Col. Brian Heberlie, “In the past year, we planned more than 640 interoperability tests in the areas of voice and video services, cores services, transmission systems and single channel radio. Although this is a reduction in functional testing compared to years past, we have developed a new construct this year for operational assessment testing focusing on mission threads. As downrange operations have shown, focusing on mission threads highlights and drives critical information exchanges across command and control systems that are critical to coalition operations.” Heberlie went on to say, “In this first year of an operational shift focusing on the information exchanges, it is not important that all individual tests are successful – what is important is that we accept the challenge, identify solutions, and give the operational communities a continually improving venue to solve their interoperability shortfalls.”

Participating in COMBINED ENDEAVOR this year are: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and United States. Multinational Corps North East and the NATO Computer Incident Response Capability will also participate.

First held in 1995, Combined Endeavor enhances collaboration between nations – especially through an interoperability guide of communications and network systems which has been used by participating nations as an electronic roadmap to respond to major military and humanitarian- relief efforts around the world like the 2004 Tsunami, 2006 evacuation of American citizens from Lebanon and NATO operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For more information on the exercise, contact Combined Endeavor 2011 Public Affairs at [phone] or visit the exercise website at: http://combinedendeavor.wordpress.com/about-combined-endeavor-ce/.

• Date Taken: 09.07.2011
• Date Posted: 09.07.2011 09:20
• Story ID: 76566
• Location: PATCH BARRACKS, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, DE