Blog Posts tagged with "National Support Element"

Hello again and welcome to the latest update on LOGEX 10. I am currently writing from the historic city of Bucharest, Romania. I noted in previous blogs that we were in the middle of a series of five bilateral workshops that prepare participants for the actual exercise in September.

Participants stand in front of the Cercul Militar National (CMN) building during the US-Romania bi-lateral NSE/LOGFAS/RSOM workshop in Bucharest, Romania.

These workshops are designed for each participating nation to develop NATO National Detailed Deployment Plans (DDPs) for use at the Final Workshop next month.  

The more workshops I attend, the more I see how these events are great sources of information and learning for everyone. The workshops break the participants down into small working groups that develop national DDPs, learn about deployed contracting concepts, and review National Support Element (NSE) guidelines. One could say that the participants are building a bridge to not only a successful exercise, but to a stronger and more capable national logistics capability that contributes to NATO-led operations. 

For NATO-aspirant nations, these achievements, among others, are potential ways to reach Membership Action Plan (MAP) goals. Started in 1999, The Membership Action Plan (MAP) assists those countries which wish to join the Alliance in their preparations by providing advice, assistance and practical support.  It is important to note, however, that participation in MAP does not guarantee future NATO membership, but oversight from NATO does provide aspiring countries with critical feedback on their preparations for achieving future membership, and may also suggest a range of additional activities designed to strengthen each aspirant country’s candidacy. 

Planning continues in Romania and Hungary this month as we quickly approach execution.  July will also be a busy month as we conduct the Final Workshop and Final Coordination Conference.  Of those two remaining events, I submit that the Final Workshop is perhaps the most critical of the workshops because it is time where all the participating nations get together and consolidate their national plans into one cohesive and executable plan that will be inputted into the exercise data base for execution.  It is truly a multinational effort, so it is important that the team get it right the first time because we all know that, “garbage in is garbage out.”  It is for this reason that nothing in the LOGEX series ever done in a vacuum, and all decisions require a consensus from everyone involved.  I am confident that we will have a challenging and rewarding exercise. 

I would like to extend my gratitude to the Romania Ministry of National Defense (MOND) and LTC Cornel Comeaga, LTC Ion Lazarescu, and MAJ Bogdan Pascal who have all worked hard to ensure the success of this event.   Equally important are the hours and hours of preparation for the course material and lectures from the training team that includes subject matter experts from JFCOM, Allied Command Transformation and the NATO School.

So the bridge framework appears secure and the destination is certainly leading our allied partners towards a stronger and more capable Alliance.  Stronger Together.

That does it for this month; join me next time for another edition of LOGEX 10.

Noroc!

MAJ Matt Williams
United States European Command J4