3 Nov. 2003

Crisis management exercise News 21/10/2003 - ARRC Exercise Arrcade Fusion 2003 Corps Headquarters to practice operations in Mid-East scenario The main training event of the year - Exercise ARRCADE FUSION 2003 - of the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) started on 3 November. For this purpose, the ARRC's headquarters of 450 permanently assigned personnel has been augmented to its wartime strength of approximately 900 and other headquarter elements are participating, bringing the total number of NATO participants to 2 500. The fictional scenario is set in the Middle East and combines exercises and study periods designed to help maintain a broad-base capability, high readiness and ability to deploy rapidly to any crisis. The exercise is being held at Sennelager Training Centre, near Paderborn in Germany and will last until 14 November. It is a computer-aided command post exercise, focusing primarily on staff processes and procedures. The ARRC is one of NATO's six high readiness force land headquarters. It was established in 1992 and led to the first NATO ground deployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995. It later deployed to Kosovo as the initial-entry headquarters for the Kosovo Force.