TIRANA, Albania (March 30, 2012)  --  The U.S. European Command ended the mid-planning conference for Combined Endeavor, its largest multinational communications interoperability exercise, today in Albania.

For 18 years, CE has brought together partner nations in secure environments to train and test the interoperability and information exchange in order to ensure common stability, security and sustainment goals and objectives are met in the event there is a multinational humanitarian, peacekeeping or disaster relief operation, like the 2010 Haiti earthquake.  

More than 300 participants from 39 nations worked together at this year’s mid-planning conference to ensure everyone is prepared for the September exercise.

“The five days spent at the planning conference are invaluable,” said Tech. Sgt. Lance Taylor, U.S. Air Forces Europe CE planner. “People are definitely working hard.  As a result, we’ve had quality training, as well as value added working relationships with the militaries of other countries.”

This year’s mid-planning conference also signals a leadership change as Brig. Gen. Gregory L. Brundidge, EUCOM Command, Control, Communications and Warfighting Integration director, will retire July 1.  In his final speech to the partner nation representatives Monday, Brundidge said, “The power of Combined Endeavor is the combined spirit, the combined effort and the combined endeavor. Regardless of the new reduced budgets, the commitment is still true, and the goodness of the exercise will be achieved.”

Combined Endeavor 2012 will take place in Grafenwoehr, Germany, Sept. 6-20. For more information about the exercise, refer to http://www.eucom.mil/combined-endeavor.