High Ranking NATO Senior Officials visit CWIX

Bydgoszcz, Poland, June 23rd, 2016. Many NATO and national dignitaries visited CWIX to receive updates on how the exercise improves the Alliance through interoperability.

More than 80 senior officials, Military Representatives to NATO, and other NATO and national decision makers came together and discussed the state of interoperability among Allied forces to act together coherently, effectively and efficiently which is the foundation for all joint, multinational, and interagency operations.

During a walk-around through the CWIX area, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, GEN Petr Pavel, was impressed by the sheer number of contributors, participating NATO and Partner nations and testing cases. “The quick ‘plug & play’ ability among different national troops is a much sought after skill in multinational campaigns when reacting to emerging security challenges and an increasingly unpredictable security environment, with threats from both state and non-state actors, emanating from NATO’s Eastern and Southern Flanks”, says General Pavel during the visit. More than 900 participants, from 21 NATO and partner nations as well as 9 observing nations, have come together to perform 10,000 interoperability tests. CWIX strives to improve and enhance operational capabilities through improved interoperability to ensure that NATO Allies and partners can act together effectively from the first day of every operation.

In his opening remarks, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, General Denis Mercier, stressed the innovative strength of the Alliance. “Over the years, CWIX has become NATO’s main platform for stimulating innovation in the area of Command and Control (C2) and for connecting our allied and partner forces”, SACT said. He noted the importance of including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) in C2 so as to base decisions to be made on all available information. During CWIX, engineers experiment with solutions to future security challenges, aiming to be ready to defend our populations against any threat at any time.

Poland is represented at CWIX with a remarkable contingent presenting and testing several innovative, already fielded as well as developmental and experimental systems among allies. In addition to the JFTC, the city of Bydgoszcz is the home of the NATO Military Police Centre of Excellence and the new NATO Force Integration Unit. “We have learned cooperation and respect for national and cultural differences. Over the years of acting together we have understood the meaning of allied solidarity”, said Brigadier General Jan Dziedzic, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the POL Armed Forces. Poland’s commitment to NATO shows the big role of the nation in shaping the response to current security challenges.

The Coalition Warrior Interoperability eXploration, eXperimentation, eXamination, eXercise is an annual event that allows NATO and Partner Nations to test, verify and improve interoperability. The three week’s event is hosted by NATO Allied Command Transformation and takes place at the NATO Joint Forces Training Centre in Bydgoszcz, Poland until June 30th.

Source: NATO

By

L. J. De Rothschild                                                                             

      Senior Editor