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Exercise ARRCADE FUSION 2003

CORPS HEADQUARTERS TO PRACTICE OPERATIONS IN MID-EAST SCENARIO

NATO HQ ARRC
21 Oct 2003

MÖNCHENGLADBACH, Germany - The Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) conducts its annual Exercise ARRCADE FUSION at Sennelager Training Centre, near Paderborn, Germany, from 3-14 November. This is a computer-aided, command post exercise designed to enhance the headquarters' ability to command and control warfighting operations, with particular emphasis on staff processes and procedures.

The primary training audience is HQ ARRC's 450 permanently assigned personnel, a peacetime staff drawn from 17 NATO nations. The headquarters will be augmented during the exercise by additional personnel from throughout the Alliance, bringing it to a wartime strength of approximately 900. Also participating in the exercise, to reflect the ARRC's assigned formations in wartime, are headquarters elements from Belgium, Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, the United States and the United Kingdom. In all, more than 2,500 NATO soldiers will take part.

The exercise is HQ ARRC's main training event of the year, highlighting a common scenario-driven programme that includes more than 50 annual exercises and study periods designed to maintain a broad-base capability, high readiness and an ability to deploy rapidly in response to any crisis. ARRC's fictional common training scenario takes the geography of the middle East and combines it with instructional elements from contemporary military conflicts around the globe.

As the first and most experienced of NATO's six high readiness force land headquarters, the ARRC has played a pivotal role in NATO military operations. Established in 1992, HQ ARRC led the first NATO ground deployment in history to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995 when it commanded ground operations in NATO's Implementation Force. In early 1999, HQ ARRC again deployed to the Balkans, where it served as the initial-entry headquarters for the Kosovo Force in command of 50,000 multi-national soldiers. Some 450 army officers and enlisted soldiers representing 17 nations and assigned units from throughout NATO serve at ARRC headquarters.

Media requests to cover this exercise strongly considered on an individual basis. Visits timed to coincide with a 13 November digitization demonstration promise greater access to the command post than normal.