Sea Breeze,Steadfast Javelin II Exercises Prove NATO's Commitment

NATO is currently conducting the Sea Breeze 2014 naval exercise in the Northwest region of the Black Sea.It runs from 8-10 September.Three warships from the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two are participating,namely,the frigates HMCS Toronto from Canada;Spain's ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbon;and Romania's ROS Regale Ferdinand.SNMG2 is one of four SNMGs.
On Monday,two Russian Su-24 Fencer fighter jets and a surveillance plane buzzed HMCS Toronto.The move was unnecessarily provocative,Canadian Defence Minister Rob Nicholson said.Russia dismissed the complaint,saying their aircraft were strictly in line with international law.*
The guided-missile destroyer USS Ross(DDG-71) hosted the opening ceremony on Monday.The Ross will actively participate in the entire spectrum of surface,air and sub-surface evolutions during this exercise,said Ross commanding officer Commander Tadd Gorman.These events will challenge the crew of Ross in their capabilities and level of knowledge.Anytime you exercise with other countries,and deal with language barriers,you're going to be challenged.That's the point of this exercise,overcoming these challenges and working together to become a team,CDR Gorman pointed out.
The Ross is forward deployed to Rota,Spain.*
Even as Sea Breeze was starting,Steadfast Javelin II was winding up.These seven-day exercises were underway across Latvia,Estonia,Lithuania,Germany and Poland,conducted by nine countries.About 2,000 troops participated,including the US Army's 173d Airborne Brigade and 2nd Cavalry Regiment with their Stryker armoured personnel carriers.They disembarked from C-17 and C-130 aircraft at Lielvarde Air Base,Latvia.
Steadfast Javelin II showed NATO's commitment to Baltic member states in the face of an assertive Russia.It simulated the deployment of NATO troops and equipment to another country during a crisis.*
At the NATO Wales Summit held last week,the alliance established a spearhead force of 4-5,000 troops capable of deploying across the alliance within 48 hours.The force builds upon intelligence,agility and precision-as opposed to weight of military force.It is an agile,precise,intelligence-led rapidly deployable force,NATO said.It reflects the alliance shifting its emphasis from the Afghan War to defending member nations in a direct way.