SZCZECIN, Poland – Every year NATO trains and tests its Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) under the designation of “exercise Jump” with the responsibility rotating between Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum and Allied Joint Force Command Naples.
The VJTF is the highest-readiness element of NATO's larger Response Force (NRF), which also includes air and maritime forces.
Exercise Brilliant Jump sends a strong message that NATO stands ready to defend and protect all Allies against any threat
This year the obligation falls under the command of JFC Brunssum. Exercise Brilliant Jump 2024 is being held in the Drawsko Pomorskie exercise area in Northern Poland. 3,000 personnel and 700 vehicles from predominantly five NATO nations (Albania, Poland, Spain, Türkiye and the United Kingdom) are participating.
JFC Brunssum Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Jean-Pierre Perrin, meets with British military personnel in the Drawsko Pomorskie Training area on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024 during a visit to exercise Brilliant Jump - NATO Photo by Sgt Donna McDonald, CAN RAF
JFC Brunssum Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Jean-Pierre Perrin, meets with British military personnel in the Drawsko Pomorskie Training area on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024 during a visit to exercise Brilliant Jump - NATO Photo by Airman First Class Adrian Pauli, DEU AF
This is no small undertaking. NATO military assets and personnel rapidly deploy by air, land and sea to the training area via a complex transport and logistical scheme. They are under the lead of JFC Brunssum’s staffs with a small forward unit deployed to the region. Furthermore, Joint Support and Enabling Command based in Ulm, Germany is coordinating and monitoring the movements.
“I am impressed by the interoperability and cohesion of Allied personnel deployed to the Drawsko Pomorskie Training area,” said JFC Brunssum’s Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Jean-Pierre Perrin during a visit to the exercise. “Exercise Brilliant Jump sends a strong message that NATO stands ready to defend and protect all Allies against any threat. Obviously, we are more numerous, more integrated and more prepared than ever,” Perrin added.
Brilliant Jump 2024 falls under the Steadfast Defender 2024 series of exercises. Following Brilliant Jump, the VJTF will move across Poland to take part in Polish exercise Dragon 24.