Valkla, Estonia - The Commander Joint Force Command Brunssum, General Erhard Bühler, attended the Distinguished Visitors’ Day at the UK-led Exercise, Baltic Protector, where he witnessed a demonstration of the military capabilities trained throughout the exercise.
General Bühler also took the opportunity to discuss collective defence, deterrence and interoperability with senior military leaders and civil dignitaries present at the event.
For a period of more than 6 weeks around 3,000 sailors and marines and about 20 naval vessels from the UK, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden trained together in the Baltic Sea forming the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF). They conducted maritime tactical exercises, amphibious drills, amphibious raiding practice, shore landings and naval manoeuvres in order to build interoperability.
The JEF was established at the 2014 NATO Summit and launched a year later. It became fully operational in June last year. As an adaptable high-readiness force that can be stood up anywhere, at any time and in any environment, the JEF can cover a range of tasks, including combat operations, deterrence, or humanitarian support. The JEF has the ability to operate independently or in support of multinational organisations, including NATO, UN, EU and Northern Group.