Commander JFC Brunssum visits Special Operations Component Command and Exercise Brilliant Sword

Menorca, Spain - Commander JFC Brunssum, General Salvatore Farina, visited his NATO Response Force (NRF) 2018 Special Operations Component Command (SOCC) on 7 and 8 October 2017 in its training location on the island of Menorca during exercise BRILLIANT SWORD 2017.

BRILLIANT SWORD 2017 is a Command Post Exercise sponsored by Joint Force Command Brunssum executing its responsibility for training and validating of the NRF 2018 SOCC and its designated Special Operations Forces (SOF) as part of the NRF package.

General Farina during his visit met with Major General Jaime Iniguez - Commander of the Spanish SOCC, Lieutenant General Fernando José López del Pozo - Commander Joint Operations Command, and LTG José Maria Salom Piqueres’ - Air Force Commander. At the SOCC HQ he was briefed on the structure and activities of the respective Commands and visited all relevant cells. Commander JFC Brunssum took the opportunity of the visit to share his vision and inform about directives for the NRF-related activities. He also emphasized the necessity for all units participating in the exercise to be fully committed and act as a cohesive team in order to be best prepared for the upcoming NRF 18 period and potential follow-on tasks.

The exercise serves as the SOCC certification venue for the NATO Response Force 2018 Special Operations Forces package. BRILLIANT SWORD 2017 focuses on achieving the SOCC Combat Readiness certification throughout a Special Operations Forces Headquarters and Units Evaluation (SOFEVAL). The exercise aims at validating the NRF SOCC organization, interoperability and readiness while simultaneously evaluating component capabilities by exercising NRF missions and tasks.

SOF are commanded through a Special Operations Component Command which exists alongside land, air, or maritime component commands. Special operations can be conducted independently or in conjunction with operations by conventional forces and may include combined and interagency operations by, with, or through indigenous or surrogate forces.

The NRF 2018 SOCC is provided by the Spanish Joint Special Operations Command (MCOE, in accordance with its Spanish acronym) with Spain as the framework nation. The SOCC staff consists of personnel from 10 nations; its task organization includes 9 Special Operations Task Groups (SOTG) from 6 different nations.

Story by Public Affairs Office JFC Brunssum