OBERAMMERGAU, Germany -- Personnel from numerous European nations gathered here this week to plan their future training.
Army Europe and NATO Allied Land Command co-hosted the semi-annual Combined Training Conference at the NATO School Nov. 17-19 to plan exercises and other training events through 2018.
This iteration of the conference is the largest in recent years with approximately 400 attendees from all 28 NATO nations, 9 partner countries, and NATO commands.
"The CTC is a great venue to meet senior planners from all over Europe," said Romanian Col. Dragos Iacob, deputy chief of the Romanian Land Forces Training and Doctrine Command. "It is a perfect forum to coordinate national exercises and to be part of (NATO's) assurance measures."
In addition to the regular land forces, representatives from the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marines, Special Operations, and National Guard and Army Reserve attended, making the event a joint endeavor.
"One of the pillars of Strong Europe is leveraging U.S. Amy Reserve and National Guard assets. Being here helps us plan on how we can be that pillar and work with Army Europe, our allies and partners," said Lt. Col. Jason Ellington, Georgia National Guard State Partnership Program director. "For those Guard units with state partners, like our own with the Republic of Georgia, we can look even deeper to see how to leverage that existing relationship for USAREUR and NATO training events."
The Portuguese contingent, sending representatives for the first time since 2011, was led by Portuguese Maj. Gen. Isidro De Morais Pereira, chief coordinator of Portugal's General Staff of the Army.
"It is important for us to be here and show our commitment to the alliance," Pereira said. "Resources are scarce and we have to optimize solutions."
Attendees from partner nations are contributing to the conference as much as other participants, despite not being NATO member nations.
"(At the CTC) we're updating our national knowledge about Army Europe and NATO training (events). We've made commitments in interoperability and capabilities in accordance with NATO exercises and training is the best way to assess how we're doing this," said Finnish Lt. Col. Joni Volanen, chief of the International Section, Plans Division, Army Command Finland. "We're also offering our own exercises for other nations' observers and hopefully later participation in those exercises."
The next Combined Training Conference will be held in spring 2016.
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