COVER STORY
Exercise DEFENDER 21
Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Allen
Lt Col Nathan Webber conducting Battle Staff Training on Ex Defender Europe 21
CAPACITY BUILDING IN THE BLACK SEA REGION
After months of training and preparation , against a backdrop of uncertainty caused by COVID-19 , a team of almost a hundred personnel from the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps ( ARRC ) deployed in May to Bucharest , Romania , on Exercise Defender 21 . The aim for ARRC was to help build the capacity of a new Corps headquarters , the Multi- National Corps South East ( MNC-SE ).
This exercise was to be a little different from those that ARRC staff have experienced of late . Firstly , on this occasion the team from Imjin Barracks were not the main focus , but the supporting act ; both to Romanian counterparts and also to a much larger United States exercise , Defender Europe , involving 28,000 troops from across 26 nations . Secondly , as opposed to recent exercises in the UK , this deployment was very much focused on security in the Black Sea region in Eastern Europe . This would require a change of mindset in addition to taking on board a whole new set of operational considerations .
As ARRC ’ s Deputy Commander , Major General Lorenzo D ’ Addario , said in a visit to Romania ’ s 2nd Infantry Division : “ We are here to learn and get to know the people we fight with , and this is very much the strength of our alliance .”
This meant that pre-deployment training had to be different too . The ARRC team trained in coaching and mentoring , as well as honing their warfighting skills . Part of that process included learning about Tuckman ’ s stages of group development : forming , storming , norming and performing . 1
FORMING , STORMING AND NORMING
As the theory goes , this model begins with a team setting a common goal , or forming , and is followed by trust building ( storming ) and shared responsibility ( norming ). The forming of an integrated headquarters between ARRC and
MNC-SE began in the autumn of 2020 with initial conferences and staff training in Germany , Romania and the United Kingdom . This was followed in 2021 by a series of seminars in Bucharest , both headquarters planning and cooperating together . Even before the main exercise itself , a significant part of the combined team had been formed .
Storming suggests that the next stage of team development can be volatile ; indeed , some teams never get beyond this point . Fortunately , this was not the case in Romania . After deployment to Bucharest , a final Academics programme provided essential briefs and facilitated staff integration , before several organised visits boosted cooperation , mutual understanding and morale . This included a ‘ terrain walk ’ to view some of the ground , rivers , bridges and challenges , that the exercise would involve .
Ex Defender Europe Opeing Ceremony
1 Tuckman , Bruce W ( 1965 ). “ Developmental sequence in small groups ”. Psychological Bulletin . 63 ( 6 ): 384 – 399 .
10 SUMMER 2021 the imjin @ HQARRC Allied Rapid Reaction Corps