RABAT, MOROCCO – the 1st Regional Collective Training Event Planning Workshop in support of REGEX 20 took place, 20-24 January, 2020.
Director General of the International Military Staff (DGIMS), Lieutenant General Hans-Werner WIERMANN opened the first workshop. DGIMS highlighted the great importance of REGEX for NATO and its Partnerships, thanked the Host Nation and the officers from the Partner Nations and wished them all success, stamina and energy for the successful completion of this cycle.
The Regional Exercise (REGEX) programme is a NATO supported opportunity for Partner Nations to plan and conduct an exercise from the beginning to the end following their own training requirements. Morocco has taken the lead for REGEX 20, following Bosnia and Herzegovina (REGEX 16), Jordan (REGEX 17), Serbia (REGEX 18) and North Macedonia (REGEX 19).
A JFC Naples J7/J9 team, headed by DEU-A Brigadier General Reinhard KLOSS (JFC Naples ACOS J9), mentored this first Workshop where 37 participants from 18 Partner countries took part. Of note this was the first time that representatives from Belarus attended. A full team of 13 people from the Host Nation also participated. In his opening remarks, Brigadier General KLOSS thanked the Host Nation for taking the lead on hosting REGEX 20 and remarked that the overall goal is to increase interoperability with NATO and build trust among NATO and Partner Nations.
The REGEX initiative involves one Partner Nation inviting all other NATO Partners to participate in the planning and execution of a national exercise. NATO provides support to the exercise planning workshops by offering:
o Training during the first two planning workshops on NATO Exercise Planning Procedures.
o Subject Matter Expertise and mentoring through all phases of exercise planning and execution
o Funding support for participants.
In what proved to be a fruitful and highly productive week, the workshop focused on the Exercise Planning Process (EPP) using NATO procedures.
Allied Joint Force Command Naples is planning to conduct 5 more REGEX 20 workshops followed by the Execution Phase in November 2020.