African War Games Test New NATO Force
An amphibious landing on a remote Cape Verde beach marked the launch of 'Steadfast Jaguar,' a two-week exercise for the new elite NATO Response Force.
By Paul Ames, Associated Press
Miami Herald
June 23, 2006
MINDELO, Cape Verde - Spanish marines rappelled from helicopters as German frigates provided a covering bombardment and U.S. fighters blasted a hidden terrorist base -- all in a fictional scenario in which NATO tested its elite new rapid reaction force.
''You see here the new NATO,'' alliance Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday of NATO's first African war games.
The amphibious landing on Cape Verde's remote Flamingo Beach was the centerpiece of ''Steadfast Jaguar,'' a two-week exercise for the NATO Response Force that the alliance is struggling to declare fully ready on Oct. 1 as the 25,000-strong spearhead of a modernized military pact.
Holding the exercise in the Cape Verde islands, west of Senegal on the African mainland, is designed to emphasize NATO's switch away from its traditional role defending territory in Europe to focus on managing threats around the world.
''In the 21st century you have to be prepared to project stability over long distances,'' de Hoop Scheffer told reporters. ``NATO is prepared for any threat.''
The new force is designed to take on tasks ranging from humanitarian relief to full-scale combat.
Apart from the fictional attack on a terrorist base, the exercise that started June 15 has the 7,800 soldiers, sailors and air crew confronting an imaginary fight between rival factions battling for control of island energy resources and rescuing civilians from a volcanic eruption.
Getting the troops and their equipment from bases in Europe and North America to Cape Verde has been a major logistical operation. NATO had to enlist the help of Russian cargo planes to fly in equipment.
Alliance officials acknowledged they did not know the overall cost since expenses are borne individually by allied governments.
Temporary NATO bases have sprung up across Sao Vicente, an arid, mountainous island of 50,000 which is the center of the operation. Troops in the uniforms of 25 allied nations fill the bars of the brightly painted port city of Mindelo, Cape Verde's second-largest city.
The NATO force vastly outnumbers Cape Verde's entire armed forces, which total around 1,500.
Residents appear generally pleased with the extra business and international attention generated by the exercises.
The government of the stable democracy has said the maneuvers will bring vital experience for its troops and help its ambitions of drawing closer to Western organizations such as NATO and the European Union.
''This is linked to development,'' said Antao Graca, 59, administrator of the local sports club. ``NATO is very welcome here, all these soldiers will bring in business.''
By Paul Ames, Associated Press
Miami Herald
June 23, 2006
MINDELO, Cape Verde - Spanish marines rappelled from helicopters as German frigates provided a covering bombardment and U.S. fighters blasted a hidden terrorist base -- all in a fictional scenario in which NATO tested its elite new rapid reaction force.
''You see here the new NATO,'' alliance Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday of NATO's first African war games.
The amphibious landing on Cape Verde's remote Flamingo Beach was the centerpiece of ''Steadfast Jaguar,'' a two-week exercise for the NATO Response Force that the alliance is struggling to declare fully ready on Oct. 1 as the 25,000-strong spearhead of a modernized military pact.
Holding the exercise in the Cape Verde islands, west of Senegal on the African mainland, is designed to emphasize NATO's switch away from its traditional role defending territory in Europe to focus on managing threats around the world.
''In the 21st century you have to be prepared to project stability over long distances,'' de Hoop Scheffer told reporters. ``NATO is prepared for any threat.''
The new force is designed to take on tasks ranging from humanitarian relief to full-scale combat.
Apart from the fictional attack on a terrorist base, the exercise that started June 15 has the 7,800 soldiers, sailors and air crew confronting an imaginary fight between rival factions battling for control of island energy resources and rescuing civilians from a volcanic eruption.
Getting the troops and their equipment from bases in Europe and North America to Cape Verde has been a major logistical operation. NATO had to enlist the help of Russian cargo planes to fly in equipment.
Alliance officials acknowledged they did not know the overall cost since expenses are borne individually by allied governments.
Temporary NATO bases have sprung up across Sao Vicente, an arid, mountainous island of 50,000 which is the center of the operation. Troops in the uniforms of 25 allied nations fill the bars of the brightly painted port city of Mindelo, Cape Verde's second-largest city.
The NATO force vastly outnumbers Cape Verde's entire armed forces, which total around 1,500.
Residents appear generally pleased with the extra business and international attention generated by the exercises.
The government of the stable democracy has said the maneuvers will bring vital experience for its troops and help its ambitions of drawing closer to Western organizations such as NATO and the European Union.
''This is linked to development,'' said Antao Graca, 59, administrator of the local sports club. ``NATO is very welcome here, all these soldiers will bring in business.''
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