OUT-FIGHT OUT-THINK OUT-LAST
Photo by Tommy Ellingsen
24 The Three Swords Magazine 36/2020 OUT-FIGHT OUT-THINK Three Steps to Operationalize OUT-LAST Warfare Development
Pages 27-30
by Lieutenant Colonel Richard Parvin The Royal Marines Former Content Branch Head NATO Joint Warfare Centre
co-authors Lieutenant Colonel Michael Derksen Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Prescott NATO Joint Warfare Centre
The Three Swords Magazine 36/2020 25 JWC News Archive: http://www.jwc.nato.int/newsroom
Photos by Tommy Ellingsen
•BACKGROUND• NATO military leaders discuss warfare development
HIS YEAR'S NATO Military Committee through scenarios, experiments new techno- our role to help NATO's Command Structure, visit to Allied Command Transforma- logical solutions, and improves our educa- and the Force Structure, to be ready and to be Ttion (ACT) was conducted at the Joint tion and training. This is the reason why JWC better. The quality and professionalism of the Warfare Centre (JWC) in Stavanger, Norway, provides some of the most vital components Joint Warfare Centre crew is central to our suc- on March 3 and 4, 2020. The visit to the JWC, of ACT's effort to cope with the challenges of cess. We are encouraging our staff to innovate organised by General André Lanata, Supreme future warfare." and explore new possibilities that will enable Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), On the first day of the visit, the NATO us to meet the future growth in ambition for had the overarching aim of engaging the Military Representatives were updated on NATO exercises. Working with our partners NATO Military Committee on ACT's War- ACT's current work on NATO adaptation with across NATO and beyond, it is our maxim that fare Development Agenda. Panel discussions, a particular focus on warfare development, the Together! We make NATO better!" videos, demonstrations, and presentations were Transatlantic Bond, Allied deterrence and de- On the second day, NATO Military focused on interoperability, innovation, agility, fence, and the strong commitment to NATO's Committee Chairman, Air Chief Marshal Sir and NATO's continued deterrence and defence three core tasks — collective defence, crisis Stuart Peach, talked to the Joint Warfare Cen- against any attack in the Euro-Atlantic area. management and cooperative security. tre's "The Three Swords News Channel" about These discussions focused on the development The NATO Military Representatives also the visit, where he underlined that, "the focus of the NATO Warfighting Capstone Concept as received a series of briefings by the JWC staff is now on improving our readiness." well as the integrated development of the Alli- that centered on four themes: Managing Com- Air Chief Marshal Peach said: "The Joint ance's Military Instrument of Power. plexity, Future Exercise Environment, Training Warfare Centre has a vital role to play in pre- ACT, as NATO's Warfare Development Audience Opportunities and Warfare Develop- paring our commanders because the NATO Command, leads the military adaptation of the ment. The Commander of the JWC, Rear Admi- Command Structure is a very important part Alliance, contributing to the orientation of na- ral Jan C. Kaack, addressed the unique aspects of our capability. We will continue to use the tions' efforts, ensuring coherence, assuring in- of the Centre's mission in linking Allied Com- Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, under the teroperability and delivering the connecting tis- mand Operations (ACO) and ACT through command of Allied Command Transforma- sue that makes the Alliance's capability greater major NATO operational exercises, which are tion, to develop our leaders for this generation than the sum of its individual parts. During the more complex and larger than ever before. and the next. It is all about the multi-domain event, General Lanata set the tone of the discus- Rear Admiral Kaack said: "The Joint approach; it is about the fusion of the tactical sions by explaining the Military Committee's Warfare Centre has a key role in validating with the operational level and the strategic visit to ACT was, "an opportunity to shift our doctrinal and experimental concepts and in level to deliver command teams across the Al- mindsets from a reactive mode to a proactive improving command and staff processes and liance that are fit for the purpose." mode, and to pull the future into the present, in interaction, optimised for warfighting. Our Air Chief Marshal Peach added: "The order to anticipate the right strategy for NATO." exercises remain the most realistic environ- Joint Warfare Centre, clearly, is an excellent General Lanata added, "the JWC tests ment available to achieve this. Complexity and team. I think all the people I have spoken to concepts and doctrines in a near-real exer- scale is at the very heart of our mission to both will return to their Nations stronger for the ex- cise environment, develops foresight thinking provide realistic and testing exercises. And in perience here in Stavanger."
26 The Three Swords Magazine 36/2020 ABOVE: Lieutenant Colonel Richard Parvin, the author, briefing the members of the NATO Military Committee on how the JWC manages complexity in large-scale operational level The following is a quick rundown of these four exercises. Photo by Tommy Ellingsen areas that help define the JWC's Vision.
I. Managing Complexity
The exercises delivered by the JWC have un- dergone a major transformation in recent years. Realistically testing NATO's o perational and strategic levels of command, potentially in an Article 5 crisis, is a hugely complex undertak- ing. The JWC-directed exercises must faithfully ITHIN THE FRAMEWORK of the NATO reflect the changing nature of conflict, including MilitaryW Committee's visit to Allied Command shifts in NATO policy and doctrine, the com- Transformation (ACT), hosted at the Joint War- plex operating environment, the roles played by fare Centre (JWC) in Stavanger, Norway, Rear international organizations, the role of techno- “Realistically Admiral Jan C. Kaack, JWC's Commander, was logical change and the potential opponents that given the opportunity to showcase the Centre's NATO Forces might face. testing NATO's work and the future direction of travel. The em- With the growth of the JWC mission phasis was on four areas: now including the strategic level, the Centre operational and has embarked on a process of expanding its I. How the JWC manages complexity in exercise material into the concepts that exist in strategic levels large-scale, computer-assisted command the political to military realm. But, to fully rep- post exercises (CAX/CPXs), licate this multi-dimensional level of warfare of command, II. What the future exercise environment in JWC exercises, the hunger for subject mat- looks like as the Centre continues to build ter experts and national expertise has grown. potentially in an near-real exercise scenarios, Additionally, the number of training au- III. What new opportunities can the JWC offer diences the JWC serves has grown considerably Article 5 crisis, to its training audiences to enhance their with recent exercises having 14 training audi- experiences while training here, ences, spanning the strategic to the tactical. And is a complex I V. How the JWC supports NATO Warfare the future sees a requirement for even more. To Development, and especially, how it can achieve all this, the Centre relies on the excel- undertaking.” support the new NATO Warfighting Cap- lence of its staff. Diverse and capable, JWC staff stone Concept. must also be at the heart of the Centre's efforts
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The Three Swords Magazine 36/2020 27 JWC VISION 2025
ABOVE: Rear Admiral Jan C. Kaack, Commander Joint Warfare Centre, addressing the NATO Military Committee on JWC Vision 2025. Photo by Tommy Ellingsen to manage complexity and deliver excellence in ray allows for a combination of play between to enable both Article 5 collective defence, as training. The JWC's new vision strategy, "Vi- any number of the seven regional areas that are well as non-Article 5 crisis response opera- sion 2025", is designed to ensure the Centre being created and fine tailored to the require- tions. Within these portfolios, the full range trains, professionally develops, and adequately ments and ambitions of the training audiences. of foreseeable missions, based on the Very equips its staff to continue to meet its unique With full control of the fictitious environment, High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) and mission to deliver complex exercises at the op- a wide range and combination of challenges and NATO Response Force (NRF) can be por- erational and strategic levels. problem-sets can be applied across the current- trayed. Initially designed for unclassified and near-future characteristics, symptoms and computer-assisted/command post exercises II. Future Exercise stages of conflict and crisis. at the operational level, spin-offs and specific Environment The JWC scenarios have been designed evolutions of the JWC scenarios have also been used in a wider spectrum, such as live By summer 2022, the Centre will have com- training or tailored problem-sets for table-top pleted the geostrategic, 360-degree fictitious exercises at various levels of command. environment in support of NATO's exercise programme, from the tactical to the military/ III. Training Audience political level. From a Brussels-centric per- “Scenarios have Opportunities spective, the fictitious setting that the JWC has developed enables a 360-degree replication of been designed In addition to achieving set exercise objectives the geostrategic environment. This fictitious to enable both and training objectives, training audiences for environment has been designed in reflection the JWC-delivered exercises have the opportu- of Supreme Allied Commander Europe's (SA- Article 5 collective nity to incorporate and test elements of Con- CEUR) identified areas of strategic focus de- tingency Plans (CONPLANs), Graduated Re- scribed in a variety of reference documents, defence, as well sponse Plans (GRPs), and their National Plans and re-iterated in the concept for the deter- within the tailorable scenarios that the JWC rence and defence of the Euro-Atlantic area. as non-Article 5 offers. And it is the long period of time that Based on a modular approach, a scalable geo- a training audience is involved in the exercise graphic scope from local/regional focus to SA- crisis response planning process that provides for an experi- CEUR's area of responsibility-wide campaigns ence that is significantly more than just the ten and operations can be achieved. This new ar- operations.” days of exercise execution. Rather, it is a con-
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28 The Three Swords Magazine 36/2020 Photos by Tommy Ellingsen The Three Swords Magazine 36/2020 29 The Joint Warfare Centre drives the delivery of collective training and warfare development at the Operational and Strategic levels of warfare.
We are NATO’s Trusted Advisor bridging Operations and Transformation, underpinning NATO readiness and future capability development.
The Joint Warfare Centre attracts and develops the most capable staff, both permanent and augmentees, based on a reputation for excellence built on a culture of professionalism, VISION 2025 curiosity, innovation and cooperation.
ABOVE: The Joint Warfare Centre's Training Facility. Photo by Sven Giegerich
stant adaptive learning experience throughout support the training audiences' development and NATO Warfighting Capstone Concept", the exercise planning process that makes each and certification. the JWC's intent is to focus its warfare devel- headquarters better. This process incorporates opment on three lines of effort, resulting in a series of collective training events such as IV. Warfare Development tangible products: Academics, Key Leader Training and Battle Staff Training, in addition to the planning The JWC is a catalyst between conceptual • Out-fight focuses on summarising multi- phase and the execution phase. development for future warfare and its trans- domain lessons identified and ensuring the Throughout all of these events, the JWC lation into practices through training and ex- broadest distribution of those best practices; Advisory Team, with the addition of Senior perimentation. Warfare development is a very Mentors, delivers lectures on best practices, broad term, which can be divided into con- • Out-think focuses on optimising design discuss common joint operational issues, and cepts, doctrine, capability development, do- and planning methodologies that adjust to the facilitate functional area discussions in syndi- mains, experiments, and threat analysis. The complexity of the operational environment cates. During the Crisis Response Planning in exercise planners, advisory teams, quality as- and improves the NATO Alliance's ability to Phase II, the Advisory Team remains with the surance teams and CAX operators at the JWC increase its speed, relevance and consistency training audience as they develop the neces- integrate all these elements into every exercise. in decision making; sary planning products to enable improvement They also aim to capture best practice as we within their Battle Staff Training and exercise test almost all elements of NATO's Command • Out-last focuses on providing exposure execution during Phase III. Structure and many elements of the Force and increasing knowledge of NATO Forces on On average, the JWC Advisory Team Structure too, and this is captured in a series the different dimensions of resilience, includ- spends 80 days with the training audience of handbooks we produce for the operational ing resilience in the cyber and space domains. throughout the exercise planning process. level of war. Within most JWC scenarios, training audi- Every exercise that the JWC directs is HE JWC HAS a clear and realistic un- ences gain an understanding of emerging ideas also a venue to experiment with new concepts derstanding of what it can provide to and concepts within NATO, such as cyber and and successfully bring challenging domains to deliver practical and relevant products space, which they traditionally will not see at the right level of attention. A good example is Ttoday, while creating the required con- their home stations. the success of experimentation on Space Sup- ditions for tomorrow. Short of actual war, the By the end of 2020, the JWC will also port in NATO Operations. Following the new JWC exercises are the only venue where the complete the development work to provide conceptual frameworks described in "Deter- NATO Command Structure can develop war- an additional wargaming capability to further rence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area fighting skills in a realistic environment.
30 The Three Swords Magazine 36/2020