The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) has completed a month-long redeployment of its permanent headquarters from London to Iceland for the first time, demonstrating its operational capability.
The deployment, named ASGARD 23, saw more than 150 personnel, complete with all their workstations, supporting equipment and facilities moved from the UK's Joint Headquarters in Northwood, Middlesex, to Keflavik Airbase. The move was designed to demonstrate and test the JEF's ability to operate its headquarters from another partner nation, developing the response to and rehearsing for a serious threat to European Security.
During their time in Iceland, military personnel from all ten nations worked on security of infrastructure, intelligence sharing, and crisis protocols as well as how the multinational organisation could respond to a range of scenarios, such as threats to undersea infrastructure and how to support any NATO response to security challenges.
Major General Jim Morris said:
ASGARD was our most ambitious headquarters exercise to date, and we've achieved everything we wanted to achieve. In particular we've taken great steps to develop JEF capabilities, which is a reassuring message to the people of northern Europe, and we've highlighted the key role that Iceland plays in supporting regional security through the JEF.
This is the culmination of a lot of hard work by my headquarters staff, by supporting units and of course by our host nation. We intend to carry out increasingly ambitious deployments and exercises in the future and ASGARD has been an excellent model for that.
The UK's Standing Joint Force Commander, Maj Gen Morris, welcomed dignitaries from all ten JEF Participant Nations, and hosted workshops in Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) security, intelligence-sharing, and refinement of the JEF Response Options (JROs) - the protocols by which JEF can respond in times of crisis.
Leaders and representatives from the JEF participant nations recently gathered in Amsterdam, where in a joint statement, they agreed to reaffirm their commitment to supporting Ukraine and working together to enhance cooperation around protection of offshore critical national infrastructure.
This deployment demonstrates the JEF's evolving capacity and capability to operate in a remote location and reinforces ties with the JEF's newest member, after Iceland joined in 2021.
Iceland is a key proponent of peace and stability in northern Europe, and as a member of both NATO and the JEF, the Icelandic government recognised the value in having a multi-national force present and was an active player in helping JEF Participant Nations further their own understanding of the region.
JEF Assistant Chief of Staff, Operations/Planning, Gp Capt Kev Latchman, said:
Through its opt-in decision-making mechanism, the JEF can respond quickly to an emerging crisis, surging and shaping the ground to support and enhance any NATO response.
The work we've done in Iceland to develop JROs has built consensus in our planning and resulted in stand-alone packages of potential activities which can support Participant Nations and NATO. The work completed on this deployment was the crescendo to many months of work that has laid the doctrinal foundations for a swift, credible and capable response to a raft of threats and challenges in the region.
The deployment, which was supported by units from the Royal Signals, Royal Engineers, and Gibraltar Regiment, also provided further insight into how the JEF can, as a framework, work in tandem with NATO and national defence plans.
The value added by the JEF is a significant contribution to both security and deterrence, giving JEF Participant Nation governments, and NATO, more options in times of crisis.
