Exercises

Exercises serve a number of specific purposes.

• Training and experience. Exercises allow forces to employ previous training in a practical way, thereby heightening forces’ level of proficiency in a given area. Exercises assume that basic training is complete, not required, or that sufficient trained/experienced personnel are available.
• Testing and validating structures. Exercises are designed to practice structures as well as  personnel. A structure consists of many components – concepts, doctrine, procedures, systems, and tactics - that must function together. Supply structures, for example, require specialized training, equipment, and operating procedures, which must be combined to effectively support a mission’s objectives. Putting these structures into practice allows them to be tested and, if need be, refined.
• Interoperability. NATO-led forces must be able to work together effectively despite differences in doctrine, language, structures, tactics, and training. Interoperability is built in part through practical cooperation between personnel from NATO countries, Partner countries, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative countries, and selected contact countries.
• Defence Reform. Participation in NATO exercises is one of the options available to Partners, in order to aid them with defence reform. Exercises provide opportunities for Partner countries to particip3ate in and observe the structures that Alliance members have in place.

Exercise scenarios

During an exercise, forces are asked to respond to a fictional scenario that approximates what might occur in real life. Exercises cover the full range of military operations, from combat to humanitarian relief to stabilization and reconstruction. They can last from a day to several weeks and can vary in scope from a few officers working on an isolated problem, to full-scale combat scenarios involving many aircraft, navy ships, artillery pieces, armoured vehicles, and thousands of troops.

Alliance exercises are supported by NATO countries (and, often, Partner countries), which provide national commitments in the form of troops, equipment, or other forms of support. Countries normally fund national contributions.

Each exercise has pre-specified objectives which drive the selection of activities. Objectives may be to build skills and knowledge, practice coordination mechanisms, or validate procedures.

At the conclusion of an exercise, commanders and, in many cases, troops, collectively review their performance. This process allows them to identify areas that work well ( “best practices”) and areas that can be improved (“lessons learned”). In this way, exercises facilitate continuous improvement of interoperability, efficiency and performance.

The Military Training and Exercise Programme

NATO training and exercise programmes are developed by both Allied Command Operations and Allied Command Transformation. This process culminates with publication of the annual Military Training and Exercise Programme (MTEP).

The MTEP provides detailed information on training, exercises, and related activities scheduled for the first two calendar years, and outlines information on training and exercise activities scheduled for the following four calendar years.

The document is based on strategic commanders’ priorities and intents, which typically include areas such as current and future operations, the NATO Response Force, transformational experimentation, and NATO’s military cooperation programs.

NATO exercise requirements are coordinated during at least three MTEP Programming Board Meetings (which are open to Partner nations’ representatives) starting at least eighteen months before the beginning of the next cycle.  Preliminary planning culminates in the NATO Training and Exercise Conference, where NATO Commands, NATO and Partner nations, and other invitees conduct final exercise coordination and provide support to the annual MTEP.

The 2006 MTEP, along with other training events (seminars, commanders and battle staff training), includes 11 live exercises and 30 command post and computer-assisted exercises. 

Participation of Partner countries

Partners regularly participate in and host NATO exercises. Partners participate in NATO exercises to increase interoperability and as part of defence reform processes.

In 2004, the Alliance established a more ambitious and expanded framework for the Mediterranean Dialogue. In part, this framework aims to promote military-to-military cooperation to improve interoperability through selected military exercises and related education and training activities.  Istanbul Cooperation Initiative and contact countries are also able to observe selected exercises or participate in some training activities as approved by the North Atlantic Council.

Approximately forty percent of NATO exercises are open to Partner countries.  In 2005 and 2006, the average participation rate of Partners in joint NATO-Partnership for Peace exercises was ten Partners nations per exercise, whereas in “NATO open to Partners” exercises, there was an average participation rate of five nations per exercise.

Political exercises

Exercises occur in both the military and civilian structures at NATO. As a political alliance, NATO exercises its political arrangements, concepts and procedures in order to ensure that the Alliance consultations and decision-making architecture and capabilities are refined, and that primary advisers – non-elected senior political officials and military commanders in capitals and within the NATO structures - are provided opportunities to maintain their awareness of how complex, multi-national organisations such as NATO work.

Moreover, since numerous partners can be engaged in NATO-led operations, exercising with them at this level also provides non-NATO countries’ primary advisers and domestic crisis management structures the opportunity to understand how NATO works.  

What’s in a name?

In 2006, a new exercises naming convention was introduced. Every NATO exercise is identified by two words. The first letter of the first word denotes the NATO command responsible for scheduling the exercise.

S	Supreme Headquarters Allied Command Europe
B	Joint Forces Command Brunssum
N	Joint Forces Command Naples
L	Joint Command Lisbon

The first letter of the second word denotes the element(s) concerned.

A	Air
L	Land
M	Maritime
J	Joint

For example, Exercise NOBLE MARLIN is a maritime exercise organized and directed by Joint Forces Command Naples.