Five plans officers from NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Headquarters returned from supporting Exercise Eager Lion 2015 in Jordan from May 2-21, 2015, as part of furthering joint and multinational task force expertise among partner nations.

British Army Col. Jon Campbell led a planning team including Lt. Col. Peter Kruijver (Netherlands), and Maj. David Royer (France), Maj. Ekip Kalir (Turkey) and Maj. Julian Moran (United Kingdom). The team deployed to Amman, Jordan in support of the annual US Central Command (CENTCOM) and Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) multilateral exercise. Eighteen nations participated from the Middle East and around the world, with ARRC providing its largest contribution to date.

"The overall exercise intent is to strengthen multinational relationships and interoperability in the conduct of regional and global contingency operations,” said Kruijver, a policy plans officer at ARRC. 

With over 10,000 participants, Eager Lion is the largest exercise in the CENTCOM area of operations. It combines live, tactical action by the Maritime, Land, Air and Special Operations component headquarters, along with overarching joint operational headquarters planning and execution. ARRC participants were positioned in the latter. 

Jordan has shown interest in improving their multinational interoperability, as well as possibly develop a multinational regional partnership with Arabic countries for mutual security, a concept based on the advanced model of NATO, explained Kruijver. 

The Mediterranean Dialogue, first launched in 1994, is a forum for cooperation between NATO and now seven countries in the Mediterranean. Its aim, according to a NATO website, is "to create good relations and better mutual understanding and confidence throughout the region, promoting regional security and stability and explaining NATO's policies and goals." The Dialogue reflects NATO's view that security in Europe is tied to the security and stability in the Mediterranean. Jordan has been a key member of the Mediterranean Dialogue since 1995, and has subsequently received steady training support in NATO planning by ARRC. 

JAF and CENTCOM requested further NATO support for this exercise due to previous success. This resulted in the deployment of the five-man ARRC team to the J5 (Plans) cell in the exercise. 

The team worked in the combined-joint task force structure, filling key positions within J5 plans section with officers from Jordan, the Pakistan Army, the Royal Saudi Navy, the Royal Bahraini Army, the US Army and US Air Force. The team chaired a joint operational planning group on a daily basis and guided teams through the NATO planning process to develop two contingency plans and a transition plan, all of which involved regular briefings to both Jordanian and US senior staff officers on their progress and possible outcomes. 

"The overall impact was considerably greater than the development of the CJTF’s understanding of a NATO planning process,” said Campbell. "For the individuals involved, the exercise presented another great opportunity of working in a multinational, environment, which proved to be educational and rewarding, in an area of great political and global importance at this time.” 

In the future, the intention is for ARRC to continue to develop a long-term relationship with Jordan, including possible participation in ARRC exercises. With that goal in mind, Campbell said, the ARRC intends to support future Eager Lion Exercises, showcasing our multinational staff and seeking to increase the impact of our modest contribution as the planning for next year develops.