Canada will participate in massive NATO's drills "Trident Juncture 2015"

Posted On
a

Defence & Security News - Canada
 
 
Sunday, August 31, 2014 11:13 PM
 
Canada will participate in massive NATO's military drills "Trident Juncture 2015"
According to The Star, Canada will send troops, jets and warships to participate in a massive NATO training exercise next year in a deployment that could be the first step toward deeper involvement in the alliance’s long-term strategy to counter a resurgent Russia.
     
According to The Star, Canada will send troops, jets and warships to participate in a massive NATO training exercise next year in a deployment that could be the first step toward deeper involvement in the alliance’s long-term strategy to counter a resurgent Russia.
Canadian joint operations commander Lt.-Gen. Stuart Beare
     
The Canadian units will participate in a test of the military alliance’s crisis response brigade. The exercise, known as Trident Juncture 2015, will be held in Italy, Spain and Portugal over several months and built around a scenario where NATO responds to an attack against a member country.

“We are planning to commit tactical forces, maritime, air and land to the live (fire) exercise,” said Lt.-Gen. Stuart Beare, the country’s joint operations commander.

It is a significant decision because NATO is pushing behind the scenes to significantly expand the size of its rapid reaction force. The alliance already announced last week it plans to base soldiers in eastern Europe to reassure jittery allies.

The crisis response unit — currently compromised of 13,000 high-readiness troops, a headquarters and reserve formations — operates on a rotational basis with different nations committing forces for up to a year at a time.
Next year’s participation in the exercise does not commit Canada to become part of that rotation, but it could set the stage.

“Those are strategic and political decisions,” said Beare. “I can’t answer the question specifically, but I can tell you we are acting in a way that, if we do, we’ll be really, really good at it.”
Taking part in the exercise would help the military reacquaint itself with how NATO does business on its home turf, a familiarity that has been lost since the last Canadian Cold War garrison was withdrawn from Europe in the 1990s.