Lt. Gen. John W. Nicholson, Jr., Commander Allied Land (LANDCOM) announced LANDCOM achieved Full Operating Capability (FOC) during exercise Trident Lance 2014 (TRLE14), which was conducted at the Joint Multinational Training Command, Grafenwoehr, Germany, December 10, 2014.

Ambassador Francesca Tardioli, Deputy Deputy Secretary General from NATO’s Operations Division, attended TRLE14 and spoke on the behalf of the Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, explaining the importance of exercise Trident Lance.  “Trident Lance is a key event for NATO to maintain and train capabilities, in this case in particular land forces’ capabilities, to ensure that this Alliance remains ready to respond to any contingency, including obviously Article 5 collective defence,” said Tardioli. “Exercises are of critical importance, especially as we move from a deployed NATO to a more prepared NATO.  We shift from deployment to preparedness and in this context exercises are essential.  It’s critical to maintain the right level of interoperability that we have achieved with a lot of efforts in our current operations.”