The Commander (Designate) of the ARRC, Lieutenant General Nicholas Borton, DSO MBE, accompanied by the defence attachés (DAs) of eighteen nations, visited Exercise STEADFAST LEDA 2021, a computer-assisted command post exercise. Lieutenant General Borton, DSO MBE, becomes the Commander of the ARRC on 15 December 2021.
The DAs joined Lieutenant General Borton, DSO MBE, the Commander of 6th (United Kingdom) Division (Major General Gerald Strickland, DSO MBE), the Commander of 1st Canadian Division (Major-General Mark Misener, OMM MSM CD) and the Command Sergeant Major 3rd (UK) Division (Warrant Officer Class One Keith Mills) for briefings at the ARRC headquarters deployed on the exercise. STEADFAST LEDA 2021 is an opportunity to drive forward ARRC's innovation and experimentation ambitions, whilst reaffirming readiness as a corps warfighting headquarters and preparing to assume its role as part of NATO's high readiness response force in 2024.
The visiting audience received a briefing from HQ ARRC's Chief of Staff – Major General Kevin Copsey OBE and visited the teams involved. The exercise aims to train three army corps in planning and conducting joint operations in a simulated scenario against a similar adversary across many areas of warfare. In addition to preparing the ARRC as it transitions to its next mission, the exercise also involved NATO Rapid Deployable Corps Spain and Greece, and was conducted across the Alliance at locations in Germany, Spain, Poland and Greece.
The exercise confirms NATO's resolve as a highly capable political-military alliance, that collectively provides the military forces necessary to ensure security for nations in the Alliance through an effective blend of operations, missions, tasks and activities within and beyond Alliance territory.