Over 10^th-14^th June, almost 400 soldiers of the Headquarters Multinational Corps South-East (HQ MNC-SE), 46^th Support Regiment, Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC) from Great Britain, Vth Corps of the USAREUR-AF as well as of different Romanian Armed Forces structures will participate in the DEFENDER EUROPE 2021 Computer Assisted Exercise/Command Post Exercise (DE21 CAX/CPX), conducted in Romania (Bucharest) and in Germany.

DEFENDER EUROPE 2021 CAX/CPX, part of the joint multinational exercise DEFENDER EUROPE 21, planned and conducted by USAREUR-AF, is a major training event where the HQ MNC-SE aims at increasing its training and interoperability level in a multinational training environment in order to achieve Initial Operational Capability with the support of HQ ARRC.

DEFENDER EUROPE CAX/CPX, HQ MNC-SE plans and conducts a defensive operation, in the context of the Romanian-American Strategic Partnership and allied context as well, by exerting command and control of the Romanian and allied forces in cooperation with the partners' ones, based on a scenario consisting in high-intensity combat actions, integrating into the command chain NATO structures established on Romanian territory.

The beginning of the exercise was preceded by a series of complex planning and training activities, consisting in personnel theoretical preparation seminars Senior Leader Academics, deployment to Romania of the soldiers of HQ ARRC, Great Britain, and USAREUR-AF and their integration into the HQ MNC-SE structures that had been trained for the exercise. Also, 150 Romanian soldiers from all the Services of the Romanian Armed Forces were trained and deployed in order to man the Response Cells (RC) associated to the exercise, at the USAREUR-AF Training Centre from Grafenwohr, Germany.

The cooperation between the HQ MNC-SE and HQ ARRC takes place based on the Mutual Training Support Agreement closed between the two headquarters of NATO Force Structure by means of which the HQ ARRC provides support and expertise to the HQ MNC-SE in its rendering operational process, with a view of achieving the IOC this year and the Final Operational Capability (FOC) by 2024. In 2020, HQ ARRC's operational capability was restated and this is why its experience is valuable for the HQ MNC-SE. On the national territory, the training sequences of Exercise DEFENDER-EUROPE 21, organized based on the Romanian-American Strategic Partnership are synchronized with ones of Exercise NATO STEADFAST DEFENDER 21, through the series of national exercises DACIA 21. DEFENDER EUROPE 21 CAX/CPX marks the end of the series of exercises conducted within DEFENDER-EUROPE 21.

Beside the operational requirements scheduled, the respecting of the prevention measures of SARS-CoV-2 virus, is a priority of the exercise planners, in order to ensure the health and protection of the personnel and local population.

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DEFENDER-EUROPE 21 is a joint multinational exercise, planned and conducted by the USAREUR-AF whose goal is to increase the reaction capability and interoperability level of the US Army with the NATO member and partners' armed forces. DEFENDER-EUROPE 21 integrates almost 28,000 soldiers belonging to 26 allied and partner nations that are simultaneously training in over 30 training areas, in 12 countries.


Media opportunities at Exercise DEFENDER EUROPE 21 CAX/CPX


Media Day at DEFENDER-EUROPE 21 CAX/CPX will be organized on Sunday, 13^th June, starting 11.45, at the Land Forces Staff Headquarters, 7H Drumul Taberei, District 6, Bucharest. There will be press statements made on this occasion.

The journalists interested in attending the Media Day are asked to send their identification data (name, surname, the ID series and number, the media institution they represent and their phone number) by Friday, 11^th June, 14.00, on e-mail address hqmncse_pao@forter.ro. The journalists shall park their vehicles outside the unit location. The live broadcasting will not be allowed at the venue.

The mass-media representatives will be expected on Sunday, 13^th June, between 11.00 and 11.30, lat the Land forces Staff Headquarters, 7H Drumul Taberei, Dstrict 6, Bucharest.

Point of contact: Colonel Marcel Arama, telephone number: 0735911455.

The Press Office