HQ NRDC-ESP

Staff Officer from Italy during the exercise

Combined Joint Operations Centre

Main entrance to the Initial Command Element

The NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Spain Headquarters (Bétera-Valencia) (HQ NRDC-ESP its acronym in english) conducts the exercise DEPLOYEX II/20 from the begining of September. The exercise, which is being conducted at the tactical explanade of the Bétera Military Base, started with the deployment of the Initial Command Element (ICE) and the activation of the Situation Centre (SITCEN) and it will come to an end next week.  

The exercise DEPLOYEX II/20 is to test the transition from the Initial Command Element to the Main Command Post (MCP) by providing the required capabilities to conduct any allied operation. The exercise is a training opportunity not only for the Headquarters but also for their subordinate units, the Support Battalion and the Military Police Battalion, as well as for the Spanish Signals Brigade.

For the HQ NRDC-ESP, this exercise is the culminating event in a series of activities in its JTF HQ (Joint Task Force Headquarters) role, prior to starting the preparation for its next commitment as  Warfighting Corps, scheduled for 2022. Another important challenge for this exercise is to carry out a deployment that guarantees security conditions against COVID 19, maintaining the social distance and implementing a strict sanitary hygiene protocol.

Around 200 soldiers from the eleven allied nations that make up the HQ, participate in the exercise, and more than 100 collective tents are set up, most of them correpond to the new tents with collective protection against NBC (nuclear, bacteriological and chemical) attacks, recently acquired by the Spanish Army.

With these training activities, NRDC-ESP Headquarters maintains its operational efectiveness and remains vigilant to the full range of security threats, as conventional warfare or hybrid warfare, while simultaneously supporting national efforts to overcome the crisis posed by the COVID 19 pandemic.