In Finland, NATO Allies and Partners are participating in the Partner Nation’s Exercise Freezing Winds. The naval exercise ran from 22 November to 2 December in the harsh weather conditions of the Gulf of Finland. Over 5,000 personnel took part from 23 combat vessels, plus service, support and transport vessels and coastal and land forces. Around half of the naval forces taking part were from NATO nations, including seven ships from Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 (SNMCMG1), under the command of Allied Maritime Command in Northwood, England.
Also on the high seas, the arrival of the U.S. Navy’s most modern aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, means that NATO now has five separate carrier groups operating together and patrolling the seas around Europe. The Ford joins her compatriots of the USS George H. W. Bush Carrier Group, as well as three European carrier groups based around the British HMS Queen Elizabeth, the French Ship Charles De Gaule and the Italian Ship Cavour. Each carrier group is a collection of powerful warships, submarines, aircraft, manned by up to 7,500 sailors, whose role is to project power from the sea whenever and wherever needed in defence of the Alliance.
In the Netherlands, JFC Brunssum hosted the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli, for his first official visit to the Headquarters since taking over the role earlier this year. Known as SACEUR for short, General Cavoli is NATO’s most senior operational commander. As the senior American General in Europe, he is also in overall command of more than a hundred thousand U.S. forces stationed in Europe to help deter aggression and, if necessary, defend Alliance territory.
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