MAGAZINE
REASSURANCE
SPRING 2021
Knowing the battlespace Now , what does the deployment give to the eFP troops ? Let us focus on Estonia again and the UK-led Battle Group . The most valuable aspect is familiarization with the battlespace , which is much different from , for instance , southern England . Fighting in woods and forests ( FIWAF ) is something that the British Army has not done in the last 20 years . There are some Tactics , Techniques and Procedures ( TTPs ) which have been modernized as a result and even influenced the new UK doctrine7 . It also is worth mentioning that the exercises focus predominantly on conventional warfare . In the Estonian case , where “ hybrid scenarios ” are tackled by police and local territorial defence units , the armed forces ’ main responsibility is conventional warfare . This shapes the Battle Group ’ s training program .
Tangible assurance The NATO assurance for the Baltic states and Poland is real . The enhanced Forward Presence ’ s influence is certainly larger than the approximently 4,500 soldiers deployed in the region . It is a test bed for every aspect of the military sphere . The
Battle Groups as NATO JTAC forces deployed to their area of operations are the key to ensure further development of land forces in the Alliance as such . The regional approach is pure realism . There are more and more regionally focused NATO entities being developed along the Alliance ’ s eastern borders , such as Multinational Corps Southeast and Multinational Division Centre , to name but a few . Last but not least , the enhanced Forward Presence is an important reminder of the need to develop , equip , maintain and train conventional warfighting capabilities . The “ Suwalki Gap ” is the same headache for planners as the “ Fulda Gap ” was 40 years ago . LC
7 - Lessons from the Enhanced Forward Presence , 2017-2020 ; NATO Defence College , 2020 ; pages 30-31 .
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