Remarks by the Chairman of the Military Committee, General Knud Bartels

Mr President

NATO forces are permanently planning and exercising for all contingencies, as they have always done.

The exercises are valuable tools for troops and commanders alike, being used to verify the level of training and they have also helped us to identify shortcomings and provide the basis for further refinement of our doctrines and procedures.

Steadfast Jazz 2013 is the latest exercise in the Steadfast Jazz series, designed to certify the NATO Response Force for the following year.  Steadfast Jazz 2013 is the first exercise in the series since 2006 to include a live-exercise component, which you have just seen today, and to have a Collective Defence scenario.  The core component of the NATO Washington Treaty and one of the three pillars of the strategic concept.

As you know, the NATO Response Force is the immediate response capability, and far smaller than follow-on forces that NATO could potentially deploy in response to a crisis.  The NATO Response Force is also the vehicle to carry out the implementation of the Connected Forces Initiative.

Watching this exercise today I would like to recall – as we speak – that NATO still has over 90,000 troops deployed on operations including ISAF in Afghanistan, KFOR in Kosovo, a counter-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia, and a maritime counter-terrorist operation in the Mediterranean.  We are also conducting air policing over the Baltic States – as mentioned, and deploying Patriot missiles to protect Turkey against missile threats from Syria.  In other words, Allies are thus working closely together to promote security and stability.

In addition to this NATO exercise, Allies are also conducting multinational exercises outside the Alliance umbrella.  For instance, the April 2013 Joint Warrior exercise run by the British armed forces brought together many Allied countries.  Two of NATO's Standing Maritime Groups participated in these exercises.  Other exercises earlier this year trained the land and air components of the NATO Response Force to certify their capability for the NATO Response Force before being brought together in Steadfast Jazz 2013 in those very days.

In the future – as mentioned, as NATO transitions from an Alliance that is operationally engaged to an Alliance that is operationally prepared – the importance of these exercises will increase.

Last week, I had the honour to visit the NATO Counter Piracy Operation Ocean Shield and experienced how the newly arrived Ukrainian frigate was able to plug into a live operation working closely together with one of NATO’s standing maritime forces.  The interoperability achieved in support of the NATO operation and with support of NATO organization and individual Allies, is a clear sign of what NATO and partners can do together..

And I definitely look forward to the coming years where exercises will be primarily planned to ensure that we are ready for every contingent we might face in the future.

Thank you very much.