Steadfast Defender

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Major Keith Lambert (US Army),

Commander Jeffrey Wilcox

(US Navy) and Captain Antun Mutzhaus (Croatian Army) explain to Alan Dron how the NCI Agency underpins the Alliance’s largest exercise with secure and reliable networks

NATO exercise Steadfast Defender 2021 consisted of several sections taking place during spring and

summer (PHOTO: NATO)

NATO’s largest exercise for 2021, Steadfast Defender, took place this spring and early summer on both sides of the North Atlantic and at locations throughout Europe. For the past year, NCI Agency staff have been working behind the scenes to ensure that ‘boots on the ground’ were backed up with secure communications and infrastructure.

Steadfast Defender consisted of several sections: Part 1 saw transatlantic reinforcements heading from the United States to Europe, while Part 2 covered the planning coordination of onward movement once the troops arrived.

Part 3 was the live exercise and its largest section, Exercise Noble Jump. Noble Jump tested the activation of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), its collaborative deployment planning, and the readiness and mounting functions for the VJTF. Around 4,000 troops took part in Noble Jump.

COMMITMENT TO COLLECTIVE DEFENCE

The exercise aimed to demonstrate NATO’s commitment to collective defence, as well as the Alliance’s continued adaptation to the complex and unpredictable security environment. Importantly, it sought to prove the interoperability between the three NATO Joint Force HQs and the Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC) – based in Ulm, Germany – with the latter also testing its coordination role in the exercise.

Steadfast Defender 2021 was the first in a new series of NATO-led exercises that brings together multiple activities, with the aim of ensuring that the Alliance’s forces are effectively trained and interoperable, possessing the capability to respond to threats from any direction.

As a defensive exercise, it trains and evaluates several NATO Command and Force Structure headquarters, including Joint Force Command (JFC) Norfolk – based in Virginia, US – to buttress the vital transatlantic links that contribute to Allied security. JFC Norfolk achieved initial operational capability last September and should attain full operational capability at the end of this year. In Steadfast Defender, it took on a core coordinating role in assuring the security of the Strategic Lines of Communication across the Atlantic, through the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap and into the Arctic. 87

NITECH ››› SUPPORTING NATO AND THE NATIONS Additionally, the exercise provided Allied nations with the opportunity to participate with forces at all readiness levels and move them throughout Europe. Steadfast Defender takes place every three years, and in early 2020 the NCI Agency was brought in to support the 2021 edition.

The initial question was how it could best do so. Following talks between Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and the NCI Agency’s General Manager, it became apparent that the Agency’s role would be larger than initially envisaged. Most notably, it would also take in the seaborne aspect of the exercise, as well as that on land.

DELIVERING NETWORK SOLUTIONS

The NCI Agency supported the static mission and communications. “During the live exercise, the NCI Agency had a cell consisting of subject-matter experts from various service lines,” explains Major Keith Lambert, US Army, lead project manager for Steadfast Defender 21. “Their main role was quick response in tracking any network incidents submitted through the centralized service desk. The NCI Agency was able promptly to react and fix any problem.” Given the scale of Steadfast Defender, all NCI Agency service lines were involved in helping to provide support. Captain Antun Mutzhaus of the Croatian Army, deputy project manager, worked with those service lines to ensure that the necessary support got to where it was required. The various service lines were responsible for areas including networking and infrastructure, cyber security and command-and-control activities. “When you combine all of these service lines, you will have major NCI Agency support, in the sense of leveraging the entire IT capability,” says Captain Mutzhaus. “They delivered network solutions. The Agency adapted for any requirements from the customer’s battlefield situation.

“The NCI Agency was mostly involved in preparing conditions for the exercise and to track and ensure a reliable and secure network environment.” Just how many people have been involved in helping prepare for this exercise over the past year is difficult to quantify, but it has been “significant”, he confirms.

Soldiers from Italy and Romania discuss tactics during Steadfast

Defender 2021 (PHOTO: NATO)

STAYING ADAPTABLE

During the exercise, the NCI Agency had a contingency budget to handle any unforeseen problems that cropped up, adds Commander Jeffrey Wilcox, US Navy, the assistant project manager: “IT services are always a moving target. You can’t plan for everything, but we strive to maintain the flexibility to adapt to problems as they emerge.” However, the NCI Agency’s preparations meant that, when unexpected situations arose, Agency staff were ready to handle them.

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WHO

Over 9,000 troops from more than 20 NATO Allies and partners

WHAT

North American troops crossing the Atlantic, moving across Europe and exercising with European NATO Allies

WHEN

From May to June 2021

WHERE

The majority of the exercise took place in Germany, Portugal and Romania

WHY

To improve Allied forces’ ability to move quickly across the Atlantic and Europe to protect each other, if needed