Imjin Barracks, Gloucester. Divisions from Canada, Romania, US and the UK back-briefed Commander Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) on their operational plans for exercise Loyal Leda 2020, during a remote online brief.
This exercise demonstrates our collective ability, as an Alliance, to be ready regardless of the challenges we face.
Loyal Leda is a NATO Article 5 command post exercise, delivering collective defence with Major Joint Operations (MJO+) force elements, but focused at the military tactical level of multi domain operations.
Commander Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, Lieutenant General Sir Edward Smyth Osbourne and Chief of Staff, Major General John Mead. Photographer Sgt P Shaw, HQ ARRC
The exercise is a key element in evaluating the ARRC’s readiness and certifying the headquarters at Full Operating Capability (FOC). This sees the ARRC as NATO’s first warfighting Corps headquarters at readiness since the Cold War.
The nations presenting plans are acting as ‘control cells’ or LOCONs in this computer assisted exercise, controlling virtual forces within a computer simulator, using digital ‘pucksters’. This generates realistic actions and reactions of friendly and enemy forces to test the headquarter's ability to command and control up to 120,000 troops using a longstanding NATO scenario. This presents a fictional but realistic peer state adversary contesting NATO in all domains and creating complex challenges for exercise participants.
Divisions supporting the exercise include 1 (US) Cavalry Division, 1 (CAN) Division, 3 (UK) Division and NATO’s Multi-National Division South East in Romania. The United States Army Europe (USAREUR) based in Germany is providing other control cells for the ARRC’s Corps troops, include the US 2nd Cavalry Regiment, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade and the US 41st Field Artillery Brigade.