Several units from the Spanish Army arrived in Norway this week, by air and sea, to participate in exercise Brilliant Jump 22 and despite the difference in climates, the troops are well prepared. Before arriving in Norway, the Spanish troops participated in training activities to ready their units for the cold weather conditions in the north. Approximately 2,500 troops from 12 NATO nations are taking part. Naval, air, and land forces will demonstrate their ability to deploy rapidly and integrate with the forces of the Host Nation.
“From my point of view, we are well prepared to participate in these exercises. The main challenge for me is the weather. I think in Spain we don’t have the same cold weather as in Norway, so this is the first challenge we need to cope with. The other challenge is to increase our capability to deploy with other militaries in a short time,” said First Lieutenant Victor, Spanish Army. However, despite extensive training activities, First Lieutenant Victor, admits it will be a steep learning curve.
Spain typically has hot dry summers with average highs from 23 to plus 40 Celsius and mild winters with infrequent frosts in inland locations with average temperatures of 8 Celsius. Compare that to Norway, which has comfortable summers averaging 20 Celsius, and winters, which are generally long and cold with an average temperature around minus 7 Celsius, inland temperatures can average between minus 10 to 20 Celsius and below and this could prove challenging for the troops.
The Spanish troops from 12th Brigade Guadarrama, 14 Main Battle Tank Leopardo and the 6 Infantry Fighting Vehicles Pizarro are not only participating in NATO exercise Brilliant Jump 22 but will also join long-planned Norwegian-led exercise Cold Response for further training in harsh cold weather conditions. NATO is consistently evolving and training to improve readiness, cohesion, and interoperability. Exercise Brilliant Jump 22 is testing and validating the High Readiness Brigade in Norway for employment as an element of the NATO Response Force 2022.
