Blog Posts tagged with "Germany"
Arctic Nations Meet to Discuss Communication, Maritime Domain Awareness Strategy
As the Arctic climate continues to change, Arctic area nations are working together to address security concerns. Recently I was honored to represent U.S. European Command at the Arctic Security Forces Roundtable (ASFR) in Bodo, Norway. The Roundtable was attend by 12 nations focused on improving communications and maritime domain awareness.
The twelve countries include: Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom and the U.S.
As the ice cover in the Arctic lessens, opportunities arise to promote a balanced approach to improving human safety and environmental security in the region through multilateral, collaborative relationships. In cooperation with our Arctic partners, USEUCOM will help develop new ideas for shared maritime domain awareness and communications.
What exactly is USEUCOM's role in the Arctic, you might wonder? Well, as a military organization, we stand ready to provide forces in support of safe, sustainable, cooperative use of the Arctic. For example, exercise NORTHERN EAGLE 2012 -- which just wrapped up a few days ago -- involved in-port and at-sea training. The exercise included communications, maritime interdiction operations, force protection, search and rescue, navigation and aviation operations, as well as ashore maritime command and control.
This is not a small commitment for any Arctic nation. The Arctic, an area of about 13 million square miles, is one of the last undiscovered regions left in the world. Though the ice melting in the Arctic sea lanes presents opportunity that can reduce travel times with new, shorter shipping routes, this change also poses unique challenges which Arctic nations must face. An increase in ship traffic means the potential for more search and rescue, pollution response and law enforcement.
As maritime traffic increases in the Arctic region, lack of adequate communication may pose a risk to the safety of maritime operations. Only 25 percent of the Arctic waters are actually mapped to modern hydrographic standards and there is no question that a shorter, more accessible shipping route will attract cargo, cruise and military vessels. These ships will have to cope with inadequate information about traversing dangerous waters. The opening of the Arctic presents opportunities to work collaboratively in multilateral forums to promote a balanced approach to improving human safety and environmental security in the region.
Maj. Gen. Mark Schissler, Director, Strategy and Policy, Headquarters USEUCOM, answers questions from Norwegian media at the Arctic Security Forces Roundtable in Bodo, Norway Aug. 29. Also pictured to the right of General Schissler is Vice Adm. Haakon Bruun-Hansen, Norwegian Joint Forces Commander. To the left is Maj. Gen. Tom Henry Knutsen, Director International Relations/Defence Staff Norway, Royal Norwegian Air Force.
At the ASFR, one of the key discussion points has been how to establish better coordination of current standard operating procedures across all Arctic security stakeholders. For example, further analysis of regional search and rescue could assist in base-lining basic communication needs across the region for safe maritime operations.
The Arctic is an area where Russia, the U.S. and other European nations can work together. The United States and USEUCOM view the Arctic as one of the main areas where we can foster closer cooperation with Russia, especially in search and rescue operations. Search and rescue is one of the most likely scenarios where shared national resources could support other sovereign nations leading a multinational effort.
I think in the past, coverage of the Arctic climate change has focused too much on the negative. In reality, nations are willing to collaborate and cooperate. The Arctic Council, Northern Chiefs of Defense meetings and ASFR are very visible examples of this cooperative spirit.
We at USEUCOM stand ready with our Arctic partners to support a safe, stable and secure Arctic region. While Arctic nations still have a long way to go in addressing communication and maritime domain awareness issues, the ASFR is a collective step in the right direction.
Maj. Gen. Mark O. Schissler
Director, Strategy and Policy
Find more blog posts tagged with:
- Finland
- collaboration
- communications
- partnership
- Netherlands
- Germany
- Iceland
- Interagency
- security
- United Kingdom
- Sweden
- Canada
- France
- Russia
- Norway
- environment
- multinational
- Denmark
- Arctic
Tale of Two Cities; J9s in Ulm and Stuttgart
In Stuttgart the U.S. European Command’s J9-Interagency Partnering Directorate was established in November 2009, while the multinational Response Forces Operations Command – Ulm, just established a “J9” within the last year.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
Our German Hosts
Despite the above statements professing modesty and a reluctance to lead or assist, after meeting these two groups I was left with the decided impression that “leading” and “assisting” are exactly what our German hosts are doing these days, and doing well.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
The Most Important Week for EUCOM
Here we are in the middle of what I believe is the most important week of the year for U.S. European Command. On one end, a long weekend recently completed in honor of Memorial Day. On the other end of this important stretch of days - D-Day.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
Law enforcement links along the Danube River: ILEA and EUCOM
I visited the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), located on the Buda side of the Danube. I did so to better comprehend the current curriculum at ILEA and to discuss possible future collaborative training engagements. This was part of our ongoing J9 outreach efforts to meet with and understand the actions of other federal agencies, Departments, and organizations also operating in Europe and Eurasia.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
Jumping In
I’m finally back home after nearly two weeks on the road and it has been more than a week now since I jumped into Iron Mike Drop Zone in Normandy, France to commemorate the 66th Anniversary of D-Day. I’ll never forget the experience – not just because of the historic significance, but also because of those that jumped with me that day. As you probably well know, British, Canadian and American forces jumped to secure the Allied flanks on D-Day, but personnel from Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland also took part in the landings. On D-Day 66, I hit the ground, collected my parachute, and then walked off the drop zone with British, French, Polish, Dutch, German and fellow Americans paratroopers surrounding me. On my aircraft alone, we had Dutch, German and Polish paratroopers and I earned both the Dutch and Polish jump wings that day.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
Passing the legacy of American troops one generation at a time
Last year when I attended the 65th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion, I left Normandy, France feeling the proudest I’ve ever been wearing the U.S. Army uniform. So this year when I boarded the MC-130 Shadow aircraft to Normandy, I was excited to return to a place where the American Soldier is so adored and appreciated.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
D-Day Paratrooper Keeps Watch from Church Steeple
I finally arrived in Northern France to St. Mere Eglise (SME). My hotel is located just to the outskirts of town and was an easy walk into the town square. It is a surreal feeling to walk through such a historic location without the aid of an Xbox game controller while playing the latest Call of Duty video game or through a production that either starred or was directed by Tom Hanks. Here it was in real life and it really feels like history is alive here.This small town was founded in the 11th century but will forever be known as one of the first towns to be liberated from Nazi Germany by the Allied Forces during the Normandy landings to include the 82nd Airborne and U.S. 101st Airborne Divisions on June 6th, 1944.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
A Memorial Day to Remember: On the Road to D-Day Anniversary
I was deep in the heart of France yesterday during Memorial Day as I'm on my way to provide support for the events scheduled in commemoration of the 66th anniversary of D-Day. I left out from our U.S. European Command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany and stopped at the halfway point on the way to the beaches of Normandy.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
What’s Working In Afghanistan
Just back from two days in Kabul, and when I think back on the situation a year ago, the progress is very encouraging.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
What Have You Jumped Into Lately?
Last week in Kaiserslautern, Germany, the Fort Benning Jumpmaster Mobile Training Team graduated 19 new jumpmasters. I was among the graduates and my head still hurts from memorizing pre-jump training, my nerves are still frayed from PWAC (Practical Work in the Aircraft) and my fingers are still healing from JMPI (Jumpmaster Personnel Inspection). If you’ve been to the course, you know exactly what I’m talking about!
Find more blog posts tagged with:
A Global Force for Good
Just left historic Munich, Germany where I was fortunate to attend and speak at their annual Security Conference.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
Afghanistan: The London Conference
Yet, at the moment, I am thinking about a superb international event that happened last week: the International London Conference on Afghanistan. Last week, I wrote about my last trip to Afghanistan as we prepared for it. The media has thoroughly covered the conference (here’s a sample of recent coverage, based on an interview with me), and you can watch key presentations online, like this one from Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s review of the conference on his video blog. So rather than reiterating what's already been said, I thought I'd share with you some personal thoughts and impressions, and my interpretations of the atmospherics.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
On this day...
I’m sitting here at work in Stuttgart, Germany, looking out at the snow. Well, I guess I’m not looking at it now as I’m typing, but you get the picture. It’s not sticking yet, but I think it just might. It was just a few months ago that I was running along the water in Tampa, Florida, and it was 80 degrees. It is interesting adjusting to the cold so quickly here! Brrrr!
Find more blog posts tagged with:
Harvest time; Harvesting Interagency Best Practices
It is autumn, harvest time here in southern Germany. People are celebrating what has been planted in the spring with fests in Munich, Stuttgart and even in smaller towns like Garmisch-Partenkirchen where I have been for the last three days.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
Excellence in Action: Combined Endeavor’s Regional Site in Denmark
This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting the national delegations at Combined Endeavor 2009’s regional site at Bülows Kaserne, Fredericia, Denmark. Delegations at this site are from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Slovenia and Sweden with additional support personnel from the United States, Austria and Germany.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
What a week!
I started last week in Lisbon, on the heels of a trip to Stuttgart the previous Friday for staff briefings at European Command (EUCOM) and EUCOM's Annual Summer Reception, which included a spectacular concert with an Elvis Presley impersonator in full U.S. Army regalia!
Find more blog posts tagged with:
Back to sea!
The NATO Sea Day – held only once every two years – was an unqualified success. The object is to bring to sea the key decision makers in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization: the Secretary General and his Deputy; the entire Permanent Representatives from NATO’s decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council (all 28 nations of course have an ambassador-rank official assigned to Brussels); the Military Committee (each Chief of Defense – those of us from the U.S. would say Chairman of the Joint Chiefs – is a member, and each has a full-time, very senior representative in Brussels); and key personnel from the operational staff, i.e. Allied Command Operations / Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.
Find more blog posts tagged with:
Community outreach onboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)
Today, I have the opportunity to escort military and community leaders from Poland and Germany aboard the “Ike” and I can’t think of a better platform to demonstrate the United States’ commitment to building partnerships here in Europe. It’s my sincere hope that our guests walk away with a greater appreciation and understanding of that commitment.
Comments: 0