STAVANGER, Norway (June 11, 2014) -- Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh was at NATO's Joint Warfare Center in Stavanger, Norway, on Monday, to meet with leaders and Soldiers and to assess the U.S. Army's manning and support to NATO.
McHugh was welcomed by German Army Maj. General Erhard Buehler, commander ofJoint Warfare Center, known as JWC, and U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. John W. Doucette, the deputy commander and chief of staff.
During a meeting with Buehler, McHugh had comprehensive discussions about JWC's structure, mission and current activities. The discussions focused on JWC's unique capabilities as NATO's premier operational-level training center for full-spectrum joint operational level warfare.
The center's multinational staff detailed to McHugh how JWC delivers training and exercises for the NATO Command and Force Structures, following a 15-month planning timeline, and using turn-key facilities and advanced technologies.
"JWC is NATO's brain trust for modelling and simulation, as well as launching new simulation capabilities," said Doucette, referring to the center's IT capabilities.
In addition to exercises, JWC's warfare capacity, its contributions to the lessons learned process and other transformational elements were outlined during the briefing.
"NATO is a vital force with an eye to the future," McHugh said. "The value of what's being done at JWC is self-evident, and helps provide a better understanding of NATO's training efforts and the ability to better assess our place in this structure to improve areas of assistance and cooperation between the U.S. and our NATO Allies."
NATO's current priority is providing training for ongoing operations, such as International Security Assistance Force training event 14/01, which is currently taking place at the JWC, until June 13.
McHugh also observed training at JWC's state-of-the-art training facility, and met with exercise participants. The participants included the training audience and the subject matter experts who fulfill the role of trainers. The experts come directly from the Afghanistan theatre and those who recently redeployed from the two theatre headquarters, which are the International Security Assistance Force and the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command.
Additionally, the Afghan officials and police coming from Afghan Ministries of Interior and Defense, and the National Military Command Centre, are here to support the exercise.
McHugh said he had great appreciation for the Afghan Security Forces' professionalism and partnership, which is built on a significant amount of sacrifices.
U.S. Army personnel from the JWC staff and those participating in International Security Assistance Force training event 14/01 had the opportunity to meet with McHugh where he thanked them for their valuable service and commitment.
Related Links:
NATO: The Joint Warfare Centre: the Transformation link between ACO and ACT
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