8-24 Nov. 2004

Exercise Allied Warrior 04 tests NATO Response Force News 01/11/2004 - AFSOUTH Exercise ALLIED WARRIOR 04: NATO Response Force Gains Momentum Key links Joint Force Command Naples The procedures for deploying and commanding the NATO Response Force (NRF) on crisis management missions were tested in exercise Allied Warrior 04, 8 to 24 November. Over 900 participants from 16 NATO countries took part in the exercise, which was held in Amersfoort, Ede and Harskamp in the Netherlands and in Verona and Naples in Italy. Putting concepts to the test This command-post exercise allowed headquarters staff to practise the procedures for mounting and commanding a Response Force deployment in response to a mock crisis scenario under a United Nations Chapter VII mandate. During the exercise, the rapid deployment of a headquarters and the command and control of assigned NRF forces in theatre were rehearsed. The scenario included the threat of an asymmetrical attack with nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) weapons, which required the integration of the support of NATO’s Multinational Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Defence Battalion and the NBC-Joint Assessment Team. Allied Warrior 04 also provided an opportunity to validate the 1 German/Netherlands Corps as the Combined Joint Force Land Component Command for the new NATO Response Force rotation, starting in January 2005. A key capability The NATO Response Force reached its initial operational capability of 17,000 troops in October this year. This high readiness and technologically advanced force is a first for NATO. It combines elite land, air and sea units into a single force that can be deployed anywhere in the world in five days and sustain itself for up to a month on a wide range of missions.