MAGAZINE
FALL 2021
and enhances these MLI activities . With both the troops in the eFP BGs and the ships in the SNF rotating every six months , an objective is for every passage of SNF elements into the Baltic Sea region to involve a port visit , exchange briefings , communications exercise in each of the four Baltic states ( including Poland ), and a centralised NSFS seminar , and a live-fire ‘ shore bombardment ’ exercise . This is assured by conducting monthly coordination meetings and biannual training and exercise coordination conferences with all the interested headquarters . This increasing interaction and mutual understanding of processes and capabilities will ensure that NATO Forces in the Baltic states , including the staffs in the NATO Multi-National Corps and Divisions Headquarters , as well as the national HNDF brigade Headquarters , are confident and capable of bringing to bear the military power NATO ’ s navies can bring to the fight in support of land forces defending the borders of these states .
On 11-12 June this year , 30 Artillery Forward Observers from the Estonian , Lithuanian and Polish eFP Battlegroups ’ Fire Support Teams congregated at the German Army Putlos Ranges near Heilingenshafen to conduct a Live-Fire NSFS GUNEX , directing the guns of SNF ’ s SNMG1 who had formed a gun-line with the Danish Frigate HDMS ABSALON ( 127mm Gun ) and the Canadian HCMS HALIFAX ( 57mm Bofors rapidfiring Gun ) in the adjacent Hohwachter Buchts Sea Range . For the first time in decades , gunfire from a NATO Maritime formation was directed onto shore targets by soldiers from Multi-National NATO Battlegroups ; demonstrating both the potential Joint and Multi-National fighting capabilities of NATO ’ s forces in the Baltic Sea Region .
With the ongoing adjustment of NATO to meet and mitigate emerging threats , the Alliance responds with new land formations , such as the Headquarters Multi-National Corps- South East now established in Sibiu , Romania . Similar to MNC- NE in the Baltics , this new headquarters is focused on providing NATO ’ s first response to emergent regional threats in South- East Europe , and along the western coast of The Black Sea . They also coordinate baseline and exercise activities of NATO formations and forces assigned to NATO ’ s Tailored Forward Presence ( tFP ). Akin to the efforts in the Baltic Sea Region , MARCOM has SNF elements frequently operating in the Black Sea Region : SNMG2 and SNMCMG 2 . The BSR Maritime-Land integration model is equally suited for similar adoption in the South-East Europe and the Black Sea Region . MARCOM continues to establish a similar relationship with LANDCOM ’ s newest Corps Headquarters to provide comparable support and coordination in this equally important and complex potential theatre of operations . This June , MNC-NE completed its first Command Post Exercise during DEFENDER 21 and has now declared Initial Operating Capability ( IOC ). It was supported by 120 Staff mentors from the UK-Based Allied Rapid Reaction Corps ( ARRC was NATOs first Land Corps Headquarters and formed in 1994 ) which included three Maritime Specialist attached from MARCOM for the exercise to provide a Maritime focus in their endeavours .
LC
COM MARCOM , Vice Admiral Keith Blount CB OBE is the coordinating authority for maritime matters with adjacent NATO Commands . He is NATO ’ s principle maritime advisor and has operational command of NATO ’ s Standing Naval Forces . COM MARCOM ’ s tasks are to be prepared to plan , conduct and support maritime operations in order to contribute to the deterrence of aggression and the preservation of peace , security and the territorial integrity of alliance member states .
Joining the Royal Navy in 1984 as a helicopter pilot within two years he was a front line aviator at the age of 20 . Through a varied flying career , he qualified as an instructor and flew in the Royal Navy Helicopter Display Team . He has commanded three warships , including the helicopter carrier HMS OCEAN and sailed in NATO Task Groups during Operation Sharpguard and Operation Active Endeavour . He was the Iraqi Maritime Task Group Commander during Operation TELIC and , more recently , was the United Kingdom ’ s Maritime Component Commander , based in Bahrain , spanning Operations in Syria and Iraq . Vice Admiral Blount holds a Master of Arts degree in Defence Studies and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society . Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2012 , he was awarded an operational Legion of Merit by the President of the United States in 2016 . Blount was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2018 . Between 2015 and 2019 he was the Head of the Fleet Air Arm and the officer accountable for the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers . Having previously been Chief of Staff to the European Union Naval Force and Deputy Commander of the Combined Maritime Forces , he was appointed as the Commander of NATO ’ s Maritime Command in May 2019 .
12