It also provided an opportunity for team building and addressed issues of mutual concern. Many areas of importance were discussed that, amongst other issues, included the strategic outlook, lessons learned, the way forward and long-term conceptual developments. Outgoing NRF Commander, Admiral Foggo, highlighted the importance of the NRF during his opening remarks and underscored that there was: “no substitute for the security apparatus provided through NATO.”

The conference also served as a forum for personnel to directly engage with their counterparts and to better understand Commander JFCBS’s intent, objectives and priorities. Closing the conference, General Bühler reinforced the importance of teambuilding, maintaining open and honest communication at all levels, and reiterated the importance of operational readiness of NRF20 as key to delivering deterrence and defence, and other assigned NATO tasks.