Combined Joined Staff Exercise 2015

Baltic Defence College students of the JCGSC Directing Staff and students participated in the Combined Joint Staff Exercise 15 (CJSE 15) in Sweden.  The CJSE exercise series is part of the Curriculum of the JCGSC contributing to developing students operational planning and execution skills in a NATO Crisis Response Operations scenario.

The exercise is a multinational, multifunctional and comprehensive Computer Assisted Command Post Exercise (CAX/CPX), organized, conducted and co-chaired by the Swedish Armed Forces and the Swedish Defense University. It was conducted between 13 - 24 April with students and staff performing their duties in three different exercise locations in Sweden; the Command and Control Regiment in Enköping, the Air Combat Training School in Uppsala and the Naval Warfare Centre in Karlskrona.  

On 20 April the Commandant of the BALTDEFCOL MG Vitalijus Vaikšnoras, visited the participants to recognize and verify the performance of the students and staff members. It was also an opportunity to have a discussion about students’ perception of the current security environment in the context of Crisis Response Operations as exercised during CJSE 2015.

During the CJSE 2015 all students were integrated into the CJTF headquarters or into the Land, Air, and Maritime operational Component Commands (CCs). They executed various staff roles in concert with their student colleagues from the Swedish Defence University, the Finish National Defence University, the Austrian National Defence Academy and the Swiss Armed Forces University. Over 1200 participants from 25 countries participated in CJSE 2015. For the students from BALTDEFCOL, it was an excellent opportunity to showcase their ability to operate in a joint, interagency, multinational capacity. The challenging and complex scenario allowed them to practically demonstrate the staff and leadership skills that they have learned during JCGSC Academic Year 2014-15.

The exercise settings have been built on the fictitious Bogaland scenario, replicating a failed state scenario inside of a wider destabilizing region. A UN Security Council Resolution enables NATO to stand up and deploy a Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) to conduct Crisis Response Operations to stabilize the region.