NATO arrives in Norway
A total of 92,000 metres (over 300,000 feet) of vehicles will arrive in Norway for exercise Trident Juncture this autumn.
The exercise is already ongoing: On Friday, 7 September, the first roll-on/roll-off ship arrived in Fredrikstad, Norway. Carrying NATO equipment and vehicles it was the first of many during Trident Juncture.
The exercise will be the largest NATO-held exercise in Norway since the 1980s, and will test both NATO's response forces, ability to assist a member country and Norway’s ability to receive large amounts of allied reinforcements.
Being a NATO member
The exercise is all about being a NATO member and how to implement this in the command chain. From the top command, and down to the soldiers on the ground.
“We get to exercise our logistical operations and show that we are fully capable of receiving large allied forces”, says Minister of Justice, Tor Mikkel Wara. The Justice Department is in charge of many of the civilian operations that support the military operation.
40,000 participants, 130 aircraft and 70 vessels from more than 30 nations – that is how large Trident Juncture is.
Why Norway?
This exercise has air, sea and land elements, and Norway offers the possibility to train realistically in all of these domains. The cold and wet weather will pose additional challenges for NATO troops, and will train them to operate in extreme conditions.
Norway offered to host Trident Juncture 18, and NATO accepted the offer more than four years ago. Norway has a long tradition of hosting major allied and multinational military exercises. Among them are Cold Response, Dynamic Mongoose and Arctic Challenge.
Why do we exercise?
Since 2014, collective defence has become a more prominent feature of NATO, due to the changes in the global security situation. In order to train and test NATO's ability to plan and conduct a major collective defence operation, the Alliance has held several large-scale exercises. This autumn, it is Norways turn to host.
Trident Juncture is also a great platform to cooperate with close partners like Finland and Sweden – exchanging best practices and working together to address crises.