Exercise JOINT RESOLVE 2025 has been picking up pace after a successful and measured start with the four Joint Operational Planning Groups diligently working through their understanding of the situation presented in the exercise scenario and the delivery of important Back Briefs throughout the past week. The first stage of planning culminated last Tuesday, when the teams delivered the Mission Analysis Brief to their respective Senior Mentors, acting as Joint Force Commanders.

The principal aim of the Mission Analysis Brief (MAB) was to present the Commander with a deep and comprehensive understanding of the operational environment and the challenges associated with the development of a successful plan to deliver an effective Joint Force campaign. In doing so, the goal for the JOPG is to provide a briefing that encompasses the wide range of considerations that may need to be taken into account, ranging from those challenges at the political level to the threat and the possible employment of any Allied Force, to the manner in which any potential operation would be messaged in order to shape public opinion. At the same time, the MAB seeks to underline the collaborative aspect of any military plan since it needs to embrace all of the key considerations provided by those that support the Joint Commander from the Air, Land and Maritime domains, for example.

Throughout the last eleven days, the students of the Baltic Defence College (BALTDEFCOL) have been working in close cooperation with their colleagues from the Polish War Studies University (WSU), the Finnish National Defence University (FNDU), and the National Defence University of Ukraine (NDUU), in four mixed teams with students sharing the leadership and briefing roles accordingly. In addition, the BALTDEFCOL has also deployed three students to the German Führungsakademie in Hamburg as part of an established exchange programme during JR25. Behind the scenes, an equally mixed tea of JOPG Facilitators and Subject Matter Experts, supervised by the Exercise Control (EXCON) group, have been aiding with the exercise in order to provide as realistic a setting as possible.

Following the delivery of the Mission Analysis Briefing, the JOPGs are now diligently engaged in a wargaming session, to test the work they recently carried out on Course of Action development and in preparation for their next important deliverable, a Decision Brief to their respective Joint Force Commander, which is scheduled for the last day of the Operations Planning Phase of the exercise, on Friday 16 May 2025.