Oeiras, Portugal - Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) concluded their participation in the live portion of exercise Trident Juncture 2018, NATO’s largest exercise in recent years. The exercise took place in Norway, the Baltic Sea, and the airspaces of Finland and Sweden from October 25th to November 7th.

 

Operating with a multinational staff of more than 200 personnel on board USS Mount Whitney, STRIKFORNATO commanded a NATO task force including 25 warships, an Expeditionary Strike Group with their embarked Marines, and during the tactical phase the addition of a Carrier Strike Group.

 

The integration of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group in the exercise marked the most recent evolution of STRIKFORNATO’s mission, as the headquarters prepares for their certification as a NATO Expanded Task Force.

 

"Trident Juncture provided a great opportunity for STRIKFORNATO to exercise sea control while projecting power ashore with amphibious and air operations from different strike groups. This is a demonstration of the inherent and substantial capability and flexibility that sea power brings to the Alliance”, said Rear Admiral Guy Robinson, Deputy Commander of STRIKFORNATO.

 

STRIKFORNATO is a rapidly deployable maritime expeditionary headquarters which integrates U.S. naval and amphibious assets into NATO operations. It has the capability to plan, command, and control the maritime operations across the full spectrum of the Alliance’s security tasks.