NATO combat readiness to be put to test in 2015

[jakeXT]

...

But today, such training occurs as NATO is shifting from a decade fighting a counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan to confronting security concerns in Europe’s own backyard, a notion that only a year ago might have been viewed as throwback to the Cold War.

Now, Russian aggression in Ukraine and concerns along NATO’s southern flank, where the rise of the Islamic State has parts of Europe on edge, has revitalized the alliance. For NATO Land Command, that means getting the alliance’s ground forces to work effectively together to respond to any threat or crisis, Nicholson said.

..

“One of the biggest challenge areas is our command-and-control systems and our ability to talk to one another, and this remains a challenge,” he said.

For example, within NATO, allies use numerous communication and “blue force” tracking systems while conducting operations, “most of which don’t talk to each other,” Nicholson said.

The command is now working on ways to get around the problem, taking lessons learned from NATO’s experience in Afghanistan, such as networks at the higher headquarters level to enable commands to communicate with one another.


http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/nato-combat-readiness-to-be-put-to-test-in-2015-1.330453

[bemildred]

1. Well, you can see why they emphasize training so much. nt