THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609280296
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 62 lines
A dictator used to control Sedona. The Mediterranean country has made strides toward democracy, but now its neighbors are threatening military action.
Sedona has asked for help from NATO. A combined joint task force made up of 86 high-ranking military officers from 20 nations met Friday to plan a mission to stop the aggression.
Sedona and the brewing crisis are fictitious. The scenario is designed to help the officers meeting at Atlantic Command's training center rehearse working together during an international crisis.
``The whole idea is that, the next time a Bosniaesque situation comes up, we're developing a corps of folks around the world who have experience and can help us,'' said Ensign Kevin Stephens, an Atlantic Command spokesman.
The officers are from eight NATO countries, as well as 12 former Soviet allies and neutral countries that now belong to NATO's Partnership for Peace program.
The officers took classes earlier this week at the training center as part of an exercise called Cooperative Guard. They talked about the challenges facing combined joint task forces.
On Friday, they put that training to use by planning the Sedona mission. They met in a planning room, studying topographical maps of Sedona and deciding how best to use their forces. The planning session will continue through Monday.
The Joint Training, Analysis and Simulation Center usually trains major U.S. service branches to work together as a team during warfare. This is the first time a NATO joint combined task force has trained there.
``What we're sharing with them is our knowledge and our experiences of how best to go about that type of operation,'' said Army Col. Mike Schroeder.
Similar-quality training isn't available in Europe, said Ian Stewart, an air vice marshal in the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force.
``You've got an appropriate, well-trained staff and fantastic facilities. Nobody else has got that,'' Stewart said.
The training exercise represents a shift in thinking for NATO and the partner nations. Countries that used to point guns at each other now are learning to work together.
``It's essential for former Warsaw Pact countries and my country, a neutral country, to learn the procedures, how to work together,'' said Maj. Gen. Johan Hederstedt of Sweden. ``Not all the countries have a lot of experience in peacekeeping.''
The exercise's total cost is about $200,000, including airfare and lodging. It is being paid by NATO, the NATO nations and a Defense Department fund that supports the partner nations. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
From left, Army Col. Holma from Finland, Ltc. Birkeland from
Denmark, and Maj. Ojala from Finland are taking part in a joint
training exercise between NATO and the partner nations at the Joint
Training, Analysis and Simulation Center in Suffolk.
KEYWORDS: NATO by CNB