Blog Posts tagged with "exercise"

“Zdravo” from Podgorica, Montenegro! This is Will Poole from the International Cyber Engagement office at Headquarters, United States European Command.                                

I spent last week in the warm and hospitable city of Podgorica, Montenegro, with a EUCOM team executing the first-ever regional Cyber Endeavor event.

To reinforce the understanding of what Cyber Endeavor is and why we do it, allow me to reiterate here:

Cyber Endeavor is the United States European Command's paramount cyber security collaboration, familiarization and engagement program designed to strengthen partner nation cyber defense capacities through seminars, events and exercise support.  These cyber defense seminars go a long way towards building cyber defense partnerships with our partner nations with the end goal of improving force readiness for deployment in support of exercises, multinational crisis response and future missions.

Deputy Minister Mira Cerović, who is responsible for Development and Protection of Information and Communication Systems, opening the Cyber Endeavor Seminar along with Lt Col Božo Đurović, Acting Chief of Communication and Information System (J-6), General Staff.

From February 28 to March 1, two EUCOM-based subject matter experts -- James Nettesheim and John Riddlemoser -- provided a cyber defense seminar entitled “Malware Analysis & Reverse Engineering Malicious Software.”

Diverse Group of Participants. The Cyber Endeavor Seminar included technical experts from Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and the United States. (See this link below for translated Montenegrin Armed Forces article and photograph of Cyber Endeavor participants.)

We had 25 cyber defense subject matter experts from 15 nations involved in this Cyber Endeavor event. The seminar was three days long and covered the basics of malware and malicious code, vulnerabilities and exploits, investigative techniques, on-line tools and resources.  The participants also learned about disassembling executables, obfuscation, malicious document analysis, creation of intrusion detection system (IDS) signatures and other malware defenses.

James Nettesheim and John Riddlemoser providing some hands-on help.

What’s next? Cyber Endeavor Seminar #2 will be hosted in Vilnius, Lithuania, April 17 – 19. The seminar is entitled “Incident Response and Network Forensics” and topics will include an overview of proper incident response procedures to include identification, containment and preservation/restoration.  Incident identification will be presented using many examples from live network captures along with associated Intrusion Detection system products.  And lots more……

COL Thomas, Lt Col Božo Đurović, the EUCOM team and all the Cyber Endeavor participants after closing ceremony.

And after that? In September, we will execute Seminar #3 (focused on computer forensics) at Grafenwöhr, Germany, and also our Capstone event with two tracks (Management and Technical) offering many diverse seminars. 

I’ll keep you posted as things move along. If you have any questions or comments, contact the International Cyber Engagement (ICE) team at ICE@eucom.mil

Will Poole
International Cyber Engagement

After landing in Podgorica, Montenegro, last week for the  LOGEX 13 Main Planning Conference I quickly realized the urgency of the Montenegrin government's request for assistance due to the large amounts of snow in the southern portion of the country. On the way to the airport it was hard not to notice the bent and broken trees that lined the road; the pieces of overhang that were bent or broken on the roofs of houses and buildings; the caved in roofs; and of course the piles and piles of snow along the roads and in the parking lots. 

 

It is important to know that Montenegro does not have a Director of Logistics in their Ministry of Defense -- all logistics support is handled at the company level. This system is advantageous because tasks can be organized and executed very quickly, while a disadvantage is that it is difficult to manage several logistical units to accomplish a large task.

Colonel Rifet Kosavac, the Montenegro Deputy Minister whith whom we met before the start of the conference, was very grateful for the support that is being provided by Belgium, Greece and the United States. He mentioned specifically the two helicopters and crews provided. He went on to say it is difficult to prepare for a situation like this because they typically don’t see the amount of snow they recently received in a normal winter -- he called it a fifty year storm. 

Colonel Kosavac stressed that they are working to increase the number of English speaking officers, purchasing weapons and equipment that meet NATO standards, and working to incorporate what they are learning at the LOGEX workshops into the daily job. 

For this, the second of five scheduled LOGEX workshops, we drove to a training center in Danilovgrad, Montenegro, to meet with 17 Montenegro military personnel and observers from Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Serbia. The objectives of the workshop:

• train logistical staff officers,
• increase familiarity of logistics staff officers with use of NATO procedures for logistics planning and implementation,
• increase cooperation and coordination among logistics staff officers for future combined operations,
• assess logistics support requirements,
• practice NATO reporting procedures, and
• using NATO logistics C4 systems such as LOGFAS.

In the end, Montenegro developed a Detailed Deployment Plan (DDP), equivalent to the Time Phase Force Deployment Data (TPFDD).  

The week’s worth of training was vital to ensure a successful exercise in February. During the week participants were introduced to NATO/National Security Element (NSE) guidelines, the NATO Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF), Deployed Contracting, Acquisition Cross Service Agreements (ACSA), NATO Contracting, NAMSA  and participated in five breakout sessions to develop and build their National DDP to use during execution. The Main Planning Conference (MPC) was held at the same location and overlapped with three days of the workshop. Colonel Mirsad Pajevic, from Bosnia and Herzegovina; Colonel Rifet Kosovac, the Montenegro Deputy Minister; and ten other representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Macedonia, Serbia, Sweden, and United Kingdom attended the MPC. These attndees reviewed and finalized the the draft Exercise Specification (EXSPEC) was review and finalized. Due to increased interest, they decided Medical Logistics and Engineering will be added to the scheduled workshops and the concepts and procedures will be intriduced in the last LOGEX 13 in October.

In all, the participants of the workshop gained a better understanding of how Deployed Contracting and RSOM occur during NATO operations and they learned how to build their National DDP.  The participants of the MPC finalized the Exercise Specification (EXSPEC) and worked to add two additional functional areas to the workshop. As I observed the interactions of the country reps in action, I felt pride in the accomplishments these countries are achieving with their participation in LOGEX. 

The ultimate goal for the Partnerhsip for Peace country participants in LOGEX is NATO membership. It’s a long road and a lot of work for them, but major progress is being made. In the end I look forward to see the culmination of all their hard work when they participate in the two week exercise in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Maj. Todd J. Morin, U.S. Air Force
EUCOM J4
Logistics Support Division
Multinational Exercise Cell Chief

During the past two weeks I really came to realize what a joint environment was really like. Having worked for the EUCOM J4 for only three months my experience was limited at best, despite three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan under my belt.

When we landed in Kiev, Ukraine, we hit the ground running and began training on our duties as the exercise trainers/advisors. After two days, the exercise participants arrived and we began working with them to get a feel of their knowledge base, allowing us to tailor the exercise injects to their skill and knowledge level. Once we felt everyone was on the same page, we held a mini exercise to work out any communication issues and allow personnel to build working relationships, since this was the first time personnel from five different countries were working together.

We successfully made it through the mini exercise, and were ready to start the full exercise. This was my first time in LOGEX and I wasn’t able to participate in any of the workshops and planning meetings, so it was an eye opening experience to see people from different countries working together on an exercise that took more than a year to plan and put together. 

My assignment at EUCOM is similar to the job I had when deployed to Afghanistan as the Partnership Logistics Center OIC; I worked closely with the Afghan Special Forces to supply them with their logistical needs. However, instead of supplying actual logistical support, we taught and guided the participants to think short term and long term to provide logistical support to their countries – we never really moved any forces or equipment.

Despite being from five different countries, communication was never a real problem because everyone practiced using the English language...even our British colleagues.

LOGEX 2011 Distinguished Visitors

The exercise participants enjoyed having the 18 distinguished visitors from fifteen countries come see what they were working on and it allowed the exercise participants to vocally express what they were learning and reinforce the need for LOGEX and more joint exercises. Among the visitors were Lt. Gen. Mukola Khyzhyi the commandant of the National Defense University; Rear Adm. William “Andy” Brown, EUCOM Director of Logistics; and Brig. Gen. Murray, Joint Staff J7 Assistant Deputy Director for Joint Training.

In all I look back at this great experience and realize that work that was accomplished during LOGEX 2011 couldn’t be done without the hard work and dedication of many nations and people working for a common cause the bonds and friendships that are built and strengthened during the LOGEX events are lasting ones and everyone looks forward to the next event to build on those bonds.  I look forward to sharing more about our LOGEX events.

Capt. Todd J. Morin, U.S. Air Force
EUCOM J4
Logistics Support Division
Multinational Exercise Cell Chief

Greetings from Budva, Montenegro! This past week was spent at the final planning conference (FPC) for Cyber Endeavor (CyE) 2011.

Note: I am happy to report that I did not lose any luggage unlike my trip to the MPC where my suitcase was (and is still) lost!

In my previous blog, I told you what Cyber Endeavor was all about. In this post, I’ll go over where we are at with CyE, who is providing seminars at the event, and the topics those seminars are going to cover. At this latest planning conference, we spent our time finalizing the schedule and agenda, as well as recruiting more participants from all of the nations in attendance. The conference was a success and we are on target to have an even better CyE than last year.

Will Poole (left) teaching newcomer, Larry Pettaway (right), the basics of our CyE strategy

What a difference a year makes! This year we’re looking to build on the success of last year by offering over twice the familiarization seminars and will double the number of participants from last year.

The importance of events like CyE cannot be overstated in light of cyber attacks happening to companies such as RSA, Lockheed Martin, and Sony.

As of today, we have over 20 different seminars being provided to 80 military members from almost 40 different countries.

It’s really exciting to be a part of this program. Cyber Endeavor is aimed to be the model program across DoD to provide familiarization and collaboration to our partner nations. CyE is quickly building up a positive reputation. It has also been mentioned by Adm. Stavridis in his March 2011 testimony before the house and senate armed services committees, as well as in the Department of Defense’s March 2011 Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace.

Wide range of participants from Academia, Industry, and Government

This year, I am very excited to say that we have multiple people from across academia, industry, and government presenting at CyE. Personally, I hope to get a chance to hear some of the presentations!

• Academia – Michigan State University (MSU), Norwich University, Naval Postgraduate School, and Carnegie Melon
• Industry – Microsoft, CISCO, SANS, McAfee, SAIC, LUSEC, Breaking Point Systems, IXL Center, and VeriSign
• Government – EUCOM, AFRICOM, NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), NATO Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC), NATO C3 Agency (NC3A), and NATO Headquarters.

Some of the topics that will be covered include:

• Live Threat Demonstration Lab (McAfee)
• Cyber Defence Monitoring Techniques and Solutions (LUSEC)
• Computer Forensics and Malware Analysis (AFRICOM)
• Security Development Lifecycle (Microsoft)
• Examining the Motives and Behaviors of Malicious Actors On and Off-line (MSU)
• Incident Handling (EUCOM)
• Securing the Human (SANS)
• Microsoft’s Vantage Point in Cyber Security (Microsoft)
• Risk Management (IXL Center)
• Packet Analysis (Breaking Point Systems)
• CyberNEXS Cyber Range (SAIC)
• Securely Configuring CISCO Firewalls (CISCO)
• Future of Cyber Warfare (Naval Postgraduate School)
• Understanding the Cyber Threat at the CIO Level (Naval Postgraduate School)

See you at the exercise!

In the upcoming months, we will finalize logistics and begin organizing seminars to support next year’s CyE. As a reminder, this year’s exercise is at Grafenwöhr, Germany and will run the following dates:

• 5-7 Sep (Firewall Seminar)
• 9-21 Sep (Management Track)
• 9-21 Sep (Technical track, including cyber-range)

Thank you for reading and see you at the exercise!

Shaun Cavanaugh
International Information Assurance and Cyber Defense

Contact info: iia@eucom.mil
Follow @Cyber_Patriot on Twitter for the latest Cyber Defense news!

I believe most people think that special operations forces never interact with the media.  That is, of course, until something bad happens, forcing someone to explain the situation in an ambiguous manner.

I have actually been that “someone” and can tell you that in fact; there is more to it than simply saying “NO” to the media or explaining the situation away in a stream of vagaries.  Sure, there are some aspects of special operations that cannot be publicly released, and responses that effectively explain why certain details cannot be released are important to convey.

But more often than not, we within special operations must make it a point to engage with the media to be successful in today’s 21^st century battle of ideas.  In fact, we must do it often and long before crises emerge, not just occasionally or WHEN crises arise.  Doing so develops rapport with individual media members, and more importantly, with the public as a whole.

A Polish special operations officer explains the importance of detailed planning within the CJSOTF operations center to a group of Polish national media during Exercise Jackal Stone's Media Day, Sept. 20, 2010. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Eric J. Glassey)

It’s about putting money into what I call “the trust bank.”  By communicating often with others, special operations forces build trust amongst the public (making deposits into the “trust bank”) so that when something goes wrong – and something will inevitably always go wrong at some point – the public maintains their faith in the special operations community.  But if there are no assets in the “trust bank,” the public will turn on the community.  Of course, there will always be those who will support the military in general and special operations forces specifically, and there are those who will never support either, but both are minority populations.  It’s those in the middle that we must address.

This is all easier said than done though.  Special operations forces are often the best in their specific fields and are laser focused on accomplishing whatever mission they are assigned, many of which are highly classified. Additionally, the community is composed of men and women who do not seek the limelight; they actually avoid public credit.  So, the special operations culture is inherently averse to what may be misconstrued as boasting.

Additionally, some, because they have endured extremely difficult situations by mitigating all risk, also believe that there is no value to engaging with the media unless they can strictly control the outcome or unless there is direct and immediate benefit associated.  I believe both anti-engagement arguments are misguided, primarily for the reason described above (the “trust bank” reason).  That’s why, in part, during Exercise Jackal Stone, the annual multi-national special operations exercise coordinated by U.S. Special Operations Command Europe and hosted this year by Poland and Lithuania, media were invited to the exercise.

From left to right, U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Anne E. Derse, Lithuanian Minister of National Defense Rasa Jukneviciene, Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite, and Lithuanian Chief of Defense Maj. Gen. Arvydas Pocius visit the Dragunu Batalionas, where they are briefed on the Jackal Stone 2010 exercise in Klaipeda, Lithuania. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Christopher A. Calvert)

Sept. 20 in Poland and Sept. 21 in Lithuania served as the Jackal Stone 2010 Media Days.  In Poland, media were first given a tour of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF – pronounced See-Jah-So-Tif) Operations Center so they could understand the importance of operational “enablers.”  They were then shown a Polish-led multi-national task unit in action, so they could better understand the tactical aspects of special operations.

In Lithuania, media were shown static displays of special operations equipment and afterward, in both countries, a press conference followed. Key political leaders (Polish Minister of Defense Bogdan Klich and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė in their respective countries) attended the events and answered questions about the exercise and its importance to them, thereby placing “funds” into the SOF “trust bank” and creating a climate of engagement.

Of course, Jackal Stone’s Media Days were not the beginning nor were they the end of special operations media engagement.  Perhaps, it could be argued, they were not enough, but they did serve as another step in the right direction.

The days of 100% secrecy are long past.  We must embrace the new environment or lose credibility in the eyes of those we serve.  As long as the special operations community continues to open up, when possible, to tell the story about what we do and why it is important, the “trust bank’s” assets will grow, and special operations forces will be more effective in their ability to accomplish any mission.

MAJ Jim Gregory
SOCEUR PAO

As promised in February, welcome to another edition of LOGEX 10. This month’s events find me at the National Support Element (NSE) & Logistics Functional Area Services (LOGFAS) workshop in the Czech Republic, which is the second in a series of five workshops designed for each participating nation in this year’s exercise.

Warrant Officer Martin Turner (RAF), Allied Command Transformation, provides instruction on LOGFAS.

The first workshop was in Poland last month, so Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania will follow in the coming weeks/months. The purpose of the workshop is to develop NATO national Detailed Deployment Plans (DDPs) for use at the Final Reception, Staging and Onward Movement (RSOM) Workshop in July. These workshops familiarize the participants with roles and responsibilities that they will encounter as members of a deployed NATO staff such as Deployment Contracting, RSOM, and the overall LOGFAS system; which is a term for a suite of NATO supply and transportation systems, and used as common planning tools during NATO-led operations. Make sense…?

These workshops are efficiently ran by Mr. Pete Venoit, USJFCOM J7 Exercise Director, who has a small team of subject matter experts from Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany who provide instruction that prepares students to produce the products required for execution. The DDP produced here will be consolidated with the other four participating nations and refined during the final workshop in July. The final product will be agreed upon and utilized during the exercise execution in September of this year.

Czech Republic NSE/LOGFAS Workshop Attendees, April 12-16, 2010.

Workshops are typically designed to be a bi-lateral effort between the U.S. and the participating nation, but it is also a great opportunity for our friends in NATO and Partnership for Peace (PfP) nations to observe these events to see how they are designed and benefit MOD General Staff and Joint Staff functions. We are fortunate to have with us this week MAJ Velimir Obradovic from Montenegro, LTC Damir “Dado” Radocaj from Croatia, and LTC Pete Williams from the United Kingdom. The goals of observer nations are to either learn more about how the training program is designed so they may one day participate or host, or observe the finer details of the course so that they may develop their own exercise. For example, Montenegro is currently scheduled to host LOGEX 12, Croatia is looking to eventually establish a similar LOGEX –type event, and the UK is showing great interest in becoming a mentor nation within the LOGEX series. So there’s lots of goodness here and many more opportunities ahead.

I must admit that the historic and majestic landscape of Prague frequently lures me to the window, and the fact that five of the “1,000 places to see before you die” are in Prague, makes me even more intrigued, but I digress. I would be remiss if I did not say how pleased we are with our colleagues and gracious host from the Czech Republic MOD. LTC Karel Zapletal is doing a marvelous job at orchestrating these events, so our hats are off to him and his team.

That just about does it for the Czech Republic workshop. I will be in Bulgaria the week of April 19-23 for another workshop, and as all workshops are designed the same; this will be my last update until July for the Final Workshop in Romania. Until then…

Nazdravi!
MAJ Matt Williams
U.S. European Command Logistics Directorate (ECJ4)

Army Master Sgt. Donald Sparks, Special Operations Command Europe Public Affairs.

One thing I have learned through my personal interactions with soldiers of other nations is that we all share universal similar traits, dislikes and jargon. We hate being in the field in cold weather, muddy, and other austere climate conditions.

While taking photos of Norwegian Army engineers during a pause in their maneuvers as part of the Cold Response 2010 exercise, I had a chance to exchange dialogue about things that only we troops discuss when we ‘close ranks’ among ourselves – away from our officer counterparts.

Obviously as I approached the crew of seven troopers, they knew I was American. Trying not to appear as a member of the paparazzi with two Nikon cameras draped around my neck, I figured if I was going to break the ice (no pun intended) I better say something funny. “So today’s a great day at the beach.”

I succeeded with my opening line as I drew a chorus of laughter. As they were preparing their field rations for a quick bite of chow, this is where I knew I could relate to their suffering.

“Who got stuck with the Royal Thai?” This concoction of a meal is the one field ration the Norwegians avoid like the plague – comparable to the old ham and cheese omelet American Soldiers dreaded to eat in a box of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). I had them going now.

Norwegian engineer troops take a moment during a pause in their maneuvers to enjoy their field rations while participating in the Cold Response 2010 exercise.

During my first five days in Norway we (my fellow service members of U.S. Special Operations Command Europe) had to eat their field rations and my curiosity got the best of me as I tried the Royal Thai selection. It’s not that it’s horrible, even as I tried to enhance the fish and curry inside with Tabasco, it’s the aftermath that hurts you for hours upon end.

“If there are ten of us and there are only ten rations, if one of those is Royal Thai, it stays in the box,” said the grenadier (Norwegian rank for its enlisted troops), expressing his displeasure of the delicacy.

I asked another grenadier how many cups of coffee she consumed during their break in ‘the fight.’ She admitted to two cups (but was pouring her third), but another suggested that coffee alone wasn’t enough – he needed a couple of Red Bull energy drinks.

A Norwegian engineer troop take a moment during a pause in maneuvers to enjoy a hot cup of coffee while participating in the Cold Response 2010 exercise.

“Word, those got me through Iraq,” I said sharing a war story. “There is nothing like drinking two Red Bulls, listen to some Jay Z and you’re ready to get right back in the action.”

As a senior noncommissioned officer, it was natural for me to ask the troops about their morale and how were they holding up in the cold. I wanted to make sure they were checking each other for cold weather injuries.

Personally, now after experiencing Norway’s extreme freezing conditions, South Korea has been bumped to number two on my list of the coldest places I’ve been on Earth. And these troops are outside in the elements, training rigorously in temperatures as low as -35 degrees Celsius.

They griped. They complained. They… well; I can’t write what I’d normally say. But they also serve. They serve their nation just like my fellow American battle buddies despite the conditions on the ground and environment we find ourselves in. So I listened, took photos and politely honored their requests not to mention their names – something I experience frequently with the Special Operations Forces I normally write about.

“Once again, we hurry up to wait,” the team sergeant said. “But at least we get something hot to drink and eat, so it’s good for us.”
Now that is one phrase that I was shocked to hear, but in retrospect, I shouldn’t have. We (American troops) despise that feeling – hurry up to wait.

Moments later our informal session was over as they received word they’d be maneuvering to their next location. They thanked me for stopping by, we exchanged dap and hugs and we do what Soldiers do – we acknowledged each other as brothers in arms.

“Stay away from the Royal Thai my friend,” the grenadier I spoke with earlier said giving me a warning. “If we don’t eat it, neither should you.”

Army Master Sgt. Donald Sparks
Special Operations Command Europe

It is no secret that EUCOM remains committed to enduring partnerships and increased interoperability with NATO.... look at any Directors calendar and you'll probably notice how busy we all are towards that commitment.  This year marks the third EUCOM-led logistics exercise, which is a Command Post Exercise (CPX) that is based on NATO doctrine which uses a multinational approach in supporting deployed forces in NATO-led out of area operations, and easily follows EUCOM's them of "Stronger Together."   

Anticipation and excitement are growing as efforts are in full swing now for LOGEX 10 that will be conducted September 6-17, 2010, at Mihail Kogalniceanu (MK) Air Base, Romania.  I am pleasantly surprised to see that this year's exercise has grown from three nations last year to five nations this year, and include participants from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.  In fact, interest is also peaking for observer nations who also recognize the importance and strategic value of conducting multinational operations.  Since the Initial Planning Conference in September 2009, we have doubled our list of observer nations and I receive calls every so often from other Nations asking how they can become involved or contribute.  I'm already looking forward to the partnership opportunities in LOGEX 11 with Ukraine and Georgia.   

Participants at the LOGEX 2010 Mid Planning Conference in Sophia, Bulgaria.

As part of the LOGEX 10 Series, our good friends in Bulgaria hosted the Mid Planning Conference (MPC) in Sofia February 22-26 with a small contingent of representatives from the five nations above.  Attendees discussed the details of execution in September and came to new agreements that were codified in a newly signed Exercise Specification  (EXSPEC) Document. I've quickly learned that if a single detail or requirement is not captured in the EXSPEC, it won't happen without a lot of extra coordination.  As an added feature, the MPC also included the Main Event List / Main Incident List (MEL/MIL) Development Workshop.  For the non LOGEX-series enthusiasts, this is equates to Master Event Scenario List (MESL) development/scripting as used in U.S. exercise planning control groups.  The next series of events will consists of independent country workshops designed to develop the logistics and transportation annexes of the NATO Operational Plan (OPLAN) that will be used to conduct the exercise. 

By all accounts, the MPC was a great success and everyone worked hard to include each and every detail possible....but time will tell, however there is much, much more to accomplish because we have eight more events to conduct prior to execution.  My special thanks to LTC Chavdar Ivanov and his team from the Bulgarian MOD for hosting the MPC, and coordinating the multitude of events that took place during the week.  As we move forward in the LOGEX series and continue to share ideas and experiences, it will become evident that the more we work together... the stronger together we become.  

See you at the workshops.

MAJ Matt Williams
U.S. European Command Logistics

That’s a wrap as they say in Hollywood, or so I’ve heard.  Eighteen months of planning, training, and effort finished with the after action review. 

It was strange, but unlike other events, there was an odd feeling that hung over the group.  It was there in the background from beginning to end and I sensed it too.  It was like your last week of high school or college.  You worked all this time to finish.  You couldn’t wait to get to the end to see fruits of your labor.  But, now you are at the finish line and you wish it wasn’t really over.  I suppose exercises do mimic real life.

I used the phrase “that’s a wrap”, and interestingly enough, as an exercise control group member it felt like a movie production.  Overall, the training audience members performed exceptionally.  Scattered throughout moments of perfection, there were moments that required do-overs, problems that were solved, problems that were never implemented, products made and products revised.  The training audience was pushed unusually hard, beyond their normal limits, yet to a person, everyone believed they were fortunate to have participated.  It wasn’t only the training audience that felt fortunate to participate, I did as well. 

One of EUCOM's missions is to build partner capacity, I believe we did that by helping the three Adriatic Nations gain interoperability amongst the participants,  increase familiarity within the complexity of support to a brigade-size task force in an out-of-area operation,  and promote cooperation and coordination amongst the three Nations' logistics staffs.

Let’s face it, there is nothing easy about planning to move thousands of people as well as ships full of equipment, real or notional, to another continent.  These officers and non-commissioned officers still had to put in the same planning, create the “what if” contingency plans, spend hours of coordination, and learn how to solve problems as they arose.  

There is no doubt that Croatian, Macedonian, and Albanian logisticians can be called on if their Nations’ are asked to participate in a future NATO-led mission.  I know they will perform magnificently and will enhance that operation, and that is what it is about.  An operation is always easier if there is trust amongst the various entities and a common understanding.    I feel that everyone came out of the exercise better knowing one another, they have a better grasp of logistics complexities, and they can do it using NATO doctrine.  

So, the exercise is over and we will go our separate ways; however, the memories and friendships made here will go on well into the future. We all learned, we all grew, and we are better off for having been a part of the LOGEX 09. 

Hvala and Gëzuar to my new Adriatic Friends.

MAJ Steve Wilke
EUCOM J4

The exercise started off with a bang. Not from a fictional bomb, but rather from a crafted problem given to the leadership of our notional Adriatic Brigade minutes after exercise start time. So what was this bombshell of a problem? Well, within the scenario, our three nations began moving personnel and equipment from home station toward the “Dark Continent”. Across the Balkans, there are notional convoys of materials and equipment moving down highways, ships that are arriving to the departure seaports, and airplanes getting ready to whisk soldiers off to Africa. The logistics staff officers from each country are wrestling with time requirements and movement schedules. Their plan was written and prepared; however, we in the control group notionally forced an unanticipated “problem” into the mix.

Staff officers struggled to communicate and coordinate with the appropriate organizations to correct the problem. How and when could they adjust the movement of most of their equipment from multiple seaports to just one, as they were just “directed”? No simple task. Orders must be adjusted, road clearances changed across three countries, ships rescheduled, larger holding areas found, and units informed to change the notional moves. (In LOGEX09 there are no actual troops, trucks, boats or planes moving about) Sounds kind of easy, but imagine you are just traveling on a business trip and will meet a friend New York. You have to arrive at the airport, park the car, and when you get to the ticket counter you are told to drive to another airport hours away to link up with a colleague to continue your travel together to NY. Now multiply that by a couple thousand troops and pieces of equipment and you get the idea.

As with all exercises, there is always a bit of flailing about as the training group or audience tries to get their legs under them. The LOGEX09 training audience is trying to get momentum within the daily rhythm and before they get hit with another issue. But, a major intent of the exercise is to take everyone beyond their normal limit, beyond their comfort zone, and beyond the routine amount (or scale) of problems. So if they can handle the stress now, they can handle these situations when it’s for real. Like sports, exercises truly are the “pre-season” for the military to perform whatever functions the leaders decide.

I have no doubt that everyone involved will gain invaluable experience, including me, thus making us Stronger Together.

Cheers
US Army Major Steve Wilke
EUCOM J4

This is my first blog for Logistics Exercise 2009.  Hope you enjoy it!  Thanks for tracking!

I arrived on time at “Alexander the Great” airport.  Thankfully, my trip was uneventful as it was my previous few times.  I was greeted by partly sunny skies, a warm breeze, my luggage (thankfully) and Macedonian Army Officer, my ride.  While the airport name invites visions of grandeur, I am always struck by it’s quaintness.  There are two departure gates to and two arrival baggage carousels.   The staff and people efficient in deed, pleasant in nature, and quick to help.    No surprise really, as I have never found my hosts and LOGEX friends unpleasant or unprofessional in any way. 

I have immensely enjoyed the months of planning and preparation that will culminate with this final event.  The various trips to all of the primary participating countries, of Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia were superb as well.

The very first ever iteration of LOGEX was hosted by Croatia in 2007.  This go round, it is Macedonia’s turn to be host for the LOGEX series.  I have to tip my hat to Macedonian Armed Forces for their outstanding efforts as the lead nation (host).  It isn’t easy to play host and bear the extra burdens of responsibility, effort, and additional financial strain that this title bestows. 

Soon we will begin this final chapter.  Stay tuned to the blog and follow me on Twitter @LOGEX09!
Cheers

US Army Major Steve Wilke
EUCOM J4

So, the final event of LOGEX 09 is upon us...

This exercise is the culmination of more than 16 months of effort. There were numerous planning conferences, capability workshops, training sessions, classroom instruction and logistics courses all over Europe. All of that was in preparation for this next week.

This exercise will train logistics staff officers from the Macedonian, Albanian, and Croatian Armed forces. They will train on NATO command and control systems, the many facets of a large unit deployment, sustainment and redeployment.

The notional scenario creates an “Adriatic Brigade” that is supporting a United Nations mandated, but NATO commanded mission on the continent of Africa. The mission of the fictional brigade is to deploy forces from home bases to East Africa and sustain forces for extended operations. That in turn will support the fictional OPERATION STABLE PEACE. If the notional scenario warrants, the Adriatic Brigade will support the United Nations, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and various International Organizations (IO) for stabilization and reconstruction efforts within the area of operations. Then, upon completion, redeploy forces back to home stations.

So why Africa? Because, it’s a long way from home, creates many logistical problems and the fictional operations area is geographically different than any place within the Adriatic nations home soil.

The beauty of notional exercises is learning…..the problems are hard, the answers need to be real and the mistakes are free.

Along with members of Joint Forces Command (Norfolk, VA), I will be an exercise controller. We controllers bend and sway the training audience with fictional scenario based problems. As the military’s premier trainers, the guys from Joint Forces Command have shepherded this exercise process with European Command’s blessing the entire way. It was a great multi-command team effort.

Our first two days have been the standard administrative minutia. Get checked in, listen to some baseline briefs, reacquaint yourself with the “LOGEX family”, get computer accounts running, do communications checks, review the plans and review the exercise problems or injects.

Although we have officially begun, the real work and value of our efforts begins tomorrow with the mini-exercise, which is like a scrimmage. Our hope is that this will make us “Stronger Together.”

Leave me a comment and follow me on Twitter @LOGEX09!

Cheers
US Army Major Steve Wilke
EUCOM J4

The Jackal Stone Special Operations Training Exercise is now officially finished with the successful completion of the closing ceremony Saturday afternoon, Sept. 26.  And as with all military operations (especially special operations in my experience), flexibility remained key.  You see, we set up for the ceremony on a concrete “parade field” area on Zemunik Air Base near Zadar, Croatia (beautiful area by the way).  Of course, we had already briefed the boss, we’d conducted a rehearsal, and we had set up all of the props – chairs, podium, speakers, etc.  Those scheduled to be given awards were seated and awaiting the beginning of the ceremony.   The plan was in place.

Flags representing the ten nations that participated in Jackal Stone 2009. (Photo by Army Master Sgt. Donald Sparks)

It was a typical late September cloudless day in central Croatia – sunny and about 85 degrees, which is great for the beach, but not so exciting if you have to sit on a concrete slab for a 30 minute ceremony.  I gathered that the assembling masses did not particularly care to hang out in the hot sun as I observed them wander up and stop short of the parade field, electing to wait in the cooler shade of the surrounding trees until the last possible moment.  Just as I announced that the ceremony would begin in five minutes, Maj Gen Kisner appeared out of nowhere (amazing how senior officers can appear out of thin air like that) and offered a “suggestion” to me.  He recommended that we move everything into the shade so that people would not have to bake in the sunlight.  In my experience, when a general officer makes a “suggestion” like that, I do my best to accommodate – it tends to make things go better. 

So, I made the announcement to flip everything 180 degrees into the shaded area.  Mind you, this is all occurring five minutes before “go” time.  Immediately, people charged out of the woodline, grabbed chairs, and placed them neatly into the shaded area opposite of the parade field.  The PA system and podium were uprooted and moved to their new location and all of the senior country representatives’ chairs were relocated to the shade.  This operation took exactly three minutes and we were ready to go on time as scheduled.  It was the right decision and I was truly impressed how the team members who had been working together in the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF) for the past two weeks sprang into action to make the general’s “suggestion” a reality.  Even though I was impressed, I wasn’t surprised.  They had all been working day and night together, developing bonds of friendship over the past two weeks planning and then reacting to complex exercise scenarios.  They were used to the unexpected, and this twist was nothing for them. 

Soldiers who participated in Jackal Stone 2009 attend the closing ceremony. (Photo by Army Master Sgt. Donald Sparks)

The ceremony proceeded quickly and flawlessly.  Maj Gen Kisner remarked that the exercise had been a true success and that it had attained the goal of increasing our interoperability.  The CJSOTF had conducted a total of 17 combat operations throughout the country during the two weeks on the ground, to include four special reconnaissance, six direct action, three hostage rescue, two maritime interdiction and two personnel recovery operations – almost all of them during periods of darkness.  We had incredible support from the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment’s two MH-47s as well as Croatia’s two Mi-171 helicopters and the 352^nd Special Operations Group’s MC-130P Combat Shadows.  In addition, the USS Higgins as well as U.S. and coalition rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs) were assisting with all of our maritime training conducted near Split, Croatia. 

It will be tough to replicate an experience like this, but we will start planning this upcoming month for Jackal Stone 10.  With the relationships and professional interoperability gained during this exercise, we’ll all be ready for the unexpected whenever or wherever it occurs.  That’s just what we do in SOCEUR.

MAJ Jim Gregory
SOCEUR PAO

This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting the national delegations at Combined Endeavor 2009’s regional site at Bülows Kaserne, Fredericia, Denmark. Delegations at this site are from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Slovenia and Sweden with additional support personnel from the United States, Austria and Germany.

BÜLOWS KASERNE BASE, Denmark — Swedish Army Capt. Stefan Eklund runs fiber optic cable to his nation's workspace. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez)

Bülows Kaserne is nestled on the shoreline of Fredericia, which is surrounded on three sides by ramparts. These fortifications figure prominently in Danish history and tied to the defense of the kingdom. Construction started in 1650 and is central in the story of the battle to free Fredericia on the 5th and 6th of July 1848.

Our visit started with a briefing by the Danish delegation chief, Lieutenant Colonel Erik Schwensen, providing an overview of the site and his responsibilities as host for the delegations in Denmark. We then participated in the daily coordination video teleconference with the other regional site in the Netherlands and main site in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

BÜLOWS KASERNE BASE, Denmark — Danish Army Lt. Col. Erik Schwensen looks over the ranks of nine countries during the Combined Endeavor opening ceremony Sept. 3, 2009 at Fredericia, Denmark.  (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez)

The highlight was visiting each delegation and learning of the tests they had scheduled for the week, the challenges in establishing the test network and the ad hoc partnering and experimentation that was taking place. They all emphasized the challenges introduced to the exercise with having delegations and their equipment spread between three locations, vice what had become the norm with one primary location in Germany. All wanted me to clearly understand the distributed architecture to support this year’s exercise injected a level of complexity that if not managed properly, could easily distract from their stated aim of testing, validating and documenting interoperability interfaces.

Overall I was most impressed by the genuine enthusiasm, passion, pride, teamwork and excellence evident in the working relationship between these professionals, each with their national objectives, but always willing to assist others where they could.

Denmark is the host at Bülows Kaserne and much of their effort was focused on site support and connecting the three exercise locations together with their satellite communications equipment…this is huge and critical task for overall exercise success. Their interoperability testing was focused on their preparation for support of the NATO Response Force.

Finland’s focus was on preparation for their responsibilities to the European Union Battle Group (EU BG) in 2011 with partners from Ireland, Sweden and Estonia. Testing for the exercise is focused on interoperability for this division sized force. Of interest was also their test of the NATO STANAG 5066, that defines how to send e-mail over HF radio, using four different radios. Most impressive was the description of a very simple, but elegant, solution to allow two nation’s secure radios to interoperate while allowing each nation to use their own methods of securing the radio transmissions with their national crypto. Simply brilliant! I was also pleased and surprised to discover that for the past five years they have conducted their own internal Finnish Combined Endeavor as a national C4I interoperability exercise. All of the lessons learned are folded back into the training objectives for their communications and signal forces.

Slovenia was involved in robust testing of single channel HF radios supporting IP networks and command and control. One C2 system being tested is used at the company and platoon level for situation awareness and can swap tracks of forces via HF, VHF, SATCOM and IP networks. I was most impressed that Slovenia is also testing elements of recent Microsoft enterprise capabilities for their tactical forces that we have not yet fielded within the HQ USEUCOM network enterprise. When delays in establishing the testing network, which were outside of Slovenia’s control, threatened their ability to complete some of their key test objectives, the cooperative spirit of their partner delegations sprang into action to ensure their partner would have the opportunity to achieve their exercise objectives. This spirit of cooperation is just one example of the teaming and partnership throughout the site.

The team from Estonia included personnel that were charged with the responsibility to establish their national signal and communications training center for the military. CE09 is the first deployment for Estonia’s new tactical communications system called ESTTACS. In addition to validating their new kit with their regional partners, they were also responsible for network traffic monitoring for the network in Denmark supporting this element of the exercise. Additionally, they also brought a special team to evaluate new HF radio equipment that might complement their current capabilities.

Sweden was in tight collaboration with the other EU BG countries testing HF and C2 systems. They were also conducting tests with Finland on TACOMS (Tactical Communications Standards for Joint Operations). The TACOMs website describes the initiative as, “…neither a NATO program nor a NATO funded project. Rather it is a project comprised of NATO nations and non NATO nations, operating outside the normal NATO infrastructure, and funded by the Nations themselves. However, NATO prescribes the projects Military Operational Requirements and Technical Requirements…” This project is an opportunity for collaboration and innovation between the 16 partner nations.

Ireland was keen on preparing for international peacekeeping operations. They too were very interested in the additional capabilities for HF as well as NATO compliant C2 systems. During the mid planning conference for the exercise, they decided to modify, through a very quick turn development, their national friendly force tracking capability to be interoperable with NATO’s friendly force indicator protocol. Initial testing indicates success.

No doubt I’ve not done justice to all of the accomplishments I witnessed in my short visit to Bülows Kaserne, but the biggest take away of the day was that Combined Endeavor demonstrates that we are all, as the US European Command motto states…“STRONGER TOGETHER.”

Next stop...Combined Endeavor's site in The Netherlands.

Brigadier General David A. Cotton
Director, Command, Control, Communications
and Warfighting Integration (J6)
Facebook: dacotton
Twitter: DavidACotton

Tomorrow, I'll be gathering my gear and moving into my temporary home at Banja Luca, Bosnia-Herzegovina to do my part within EUCOM's Combined Endeavor 09 exercise.

The Combined Endeavor series of exercises are more workshop, display and information exchange than tactics, techniques and troop management. Combined Endeavor -- CE for short -- allows communicators from all over Europe, as well as Canada, the United States, a once-yearly opportunity to test out, experiment, and share communications breakthroughs with their counterparts. When a disaster occurs is the wrong time to figure out that one nation's "commo gear" can't talk with another's. Or that one has to have two, three, or even four phone "devices" around because for some reason there was no coordination to share simple things like phone directories, emergency radio frequencies, push-to-talk numbers, and emergency beeper numbers among those who needed them beforehand. We Americans experienced this back during the aftermath of "9-11" in New York City and later after a series of hurricanes in our southern United States destroyed much of several of our largest coastal cities.

THAT is what CE is really all about: figuring out before disaster occurs, how best to communicate between nation's basic communication systems; is there anything on the horizon better than what we're using and how does it work -- and CAN IT WORK with systems which were purchased back in the 80s? In the 60s? In the 40s? It goes a little bit further than that.

Let's say supposedly, country "X" is fielding a new communications system and there's only one or two people in their country who knows anything about that system. Country "Y" remembers their own growing pains from their experiences with that system four years ago. The two countries can get together on their own, sure, and exchange people, information and equipment between each other. However, it's a lot better to do that exchange whereby other nations surrounding them can see how tough fielding the new equipment can be and how much support there is for that equipment to be taught during something like CE.

That too, is what CE is about. There's no firing ranges, no explosions (we hope!), no fighting. A simple exchange of information, resources, tools and techniques geared to get everyone "speaking together", maybe not with one voice but with the capability to hear and talk with one another.

As the public affairs officer for the exercise, my emphasis will be in part on communication with others as well. This blog, for instance, will be used by participants and leadership of CE09 to talk and listen to all of you about this important exercise. In addition, I will be posting daily images and video collected from our "media operations center" to further illustrate the importance of the exercise and how it's a great use of EUCOM's valuable capital - human and financial. I will also post content on world-wide internet resources like Facebook and Flikr, again so that those in other nations as well as our "home team audiences" can see and understand a bit more about CE09 and it's place as a EUCOM value-added program.

I am thrilled to be able to share my experiences with all of you while I'm there. But I'm not going to be the ONLY one you'll "hear" from, trust me. We have people within the communications community (the people who REALLY know their stuff with regard to the outcomes of this event) on tap to share with you their impressions and thoughts about the exercise and it's progress. I will also be reaching out to my Bosnia-Herzegovina counterparts and asking them to post here as well. I trust that through our social media and traditional media methods, that you will talk with us about the exercise too.

Combined Endeavor is a EUCOM-sponsored communications interoperability exercise. For the first time, a Partnership for Peace nation will be hosting the main effort. I am happy to be a part of the effort as one of the last events on my "performance calendar" under my current set of orders to EUCOM's public affairs directorate. I look forward in sharing my impressions and thoughts with all of you -- through this blog, products produced here, and items posted to EUCOM's Facebook and Flikr (a photo sharing site), and follow us on Twitter at #EUCOM.

LTC Mike Walton
U.S. European Command Public Affairs

Well, the Tandbergs worked between here and Stuttgart! What's a Tandberg? It is a point-to-point (or multipoint) teleconferencing tool used by many commercial firms as well as by many nations. The screen looks like a portrait-sized computer screen (in other words, a normal computer screen turned 90 degrees) and there's a camera embedded into the top of the screen. With this tool, individuals can sit at their desk and communicate with any number of others for video conferences.

Part of the preparation for this exercise calls for the using such great tools by the staffs on both the EUCOM end in Germany and all three locations of CE this year.

The other accomplishment today thanks to the great work, led by the personnel assigned to the US Army Europe (USAREUR for short), the Combined/Joint Command and Control Center (or "CJ Triple C") is fully wired to support controlling testing activities between Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The CJ-Triple C is where participating nations' leadership can observe and direct the overall exercise activities. Completion of the communications infrastructure in the CJ Triple C means that we're only a few days away from the start of a very complex communications exercise.

There are other important wirings going on today but these are the two biggest.

LtCol Rick Dollesin
Exercise Director, Combined Endeavor

Things are going well as Kozara Barracks is being transformed into a large telecommunications site to support the Main Operating Base of Combined Endeavor 2009 (CE09). We are finalizing contracts, continuing to build the main operating base infrastructure, and installing several networks which will serve as the backbone for our daily communications during the communications interoperability testing. There are as many Bosnia and Herzogovina military support personnel on the ground here as there are members from the CE staff and early participants!

Working around electronics -- and their containers -- is a little dangerous. Safety is paramount among all participants, staff members and visitors whether here at Kozara Barracks or at the other two sites involved in CE09. However, together with our host nation counterparts, we are continuing to make CE09 a positive experience for all participants and visitors alike.

LtCol Rick Dollesin
Exercise Director, Combined Endeavor

CE – Combined Endeavor – is a large telecommunications exercise sponsored by EUCOM but planned and executed by our partner nations. This year, 2009, we are moving the exercise out of Germany for the first time in our 14 year history to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a big enough challenge planning this exercise, but this year we add the challenge of building a new infrastructure to support the exercise.

To make this a bigger challenge, while our main site will be in Bosnia, we will have two other operational sites – one in Denmark, the other in the Netherlands. This creates new technical challenges we’ve not had before, particularly creating multi-national communication networks over satellite long-haul connections.

To prepare all of this we hold a series of planning conferences. The initial conference was in Tallinn, Estonia. This week we are conducting the mid planning conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia (the exercise, in September, will be held in Banja Luka, 5 hours Northwest of Sarajevo). The Bosnians are clearly putting much effort into preparing for the exercise, and it has the highest level of attention in the Ministry of Defense. The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Defense, the U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia, the Bosnian Chairman of the Joint Staff, and several governmental ministers. Interestingly, it was also attended by the Commanders of the NATO and EU forces in Bosnia.

As a side note, the city of Sarajevo was very pleasant. It is clean, orderly, and quiet. All the people we met were very friendly – more the impression of a small town than a rather large city. We had a nice dinner the first evening at a nearby restaurant where we enjoyed local specialties. The city still shows the evidence of the war – 15 years on and many buildings are still heavily pock marked with small arms and larger caliber fire. There are, also, many newer buildings. Revitalization is evident, but the world-wide economic problems have clearly halted much of that work.

The CE final conference before the exercise will be in Montenegro. By the end of this conference we will be nearly ready to support about 1200 Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen from 39 nations at three sites in order to conduct roughly 1000 military telecommunication tests over a two week period. The goal of all this? To have European forces better prepared to support coalition operations whenever and wherever needed – to learn in an exercise how to make all their different communication systems work together so we don’t have to figure it out after it may be too late. Good communications is the enabler of operations – that’s what CE is about – good comms.

COL Dan Matchette, USA
EUCOM J-69, C4I Interoperability