NATO Allies practise amphibious operations in Harstad, Norway to prepare for exercise “Nordic Response 2024”, as part of NATO exercise “Steadfast Defender 2024”.
Synopsis
Troops from France, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, the United States, and Sweden have deployed to Harstad, Norway for exercise “Nordic Response 2024”. “Nordic Response 2024” is part of NATO’s biggest exercise in decades called “Steadfast Defender 2024”, which sees 90,000 forces from 31 Allies and soon full NATO member Sweden train together across various NATO countries and multiple operational domains.
Troops participated in amphibious operations training as they got ready to engage in the field exercise, which is running from 3 to 14 March. Finnish, French and Swedish forces have embarked on the US Navy’s USS Gunston Hall, an amphibious assault ship. Meanwhile, the Netherlands Marine Corps have practised amphibious landings on Sandstrand beaches near Harstad. Additionally, Italian marines from the San Marco Marine Brigade have trained their sharpshooting skills in the freezing Norwegian Arctic.
Working together in such a hostile environment enabled these soldiers from several NATO countries to increase their efficiency and strengthen their resilience in order to operate in all climate conditions, while at the same time testing their ability to deploy from all corners of the Alliance.
Footage includes shots of the Netherlands Marine Corps practising amphibious landings, Italian troops from the San Marco Marine Brigade practising sharpshooting skills and getting trained by the Norwegian Army in winter survival skills, as well as members of the Finnish Nyland Brigade boarding USS Gunston Hall. Footage also includes an interview with the Commanding Officer of the US Navy’s USS Gunston Hall.
Transcript
—SHOTLIST—
(00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – MEMBERS OF THE NETHERLANDS MARINE CORPS PRACTISING AMPHIBIOUS LANDINGS ON A BEACH IN SANDSTRAND, NORWAY
(00:59) VARIOUS SHOTS – MEMBERS OF THE NETHERLANDS MARINE CORPS UNLOADING TWO BV206 AMPHIBIOUS TRACKED VEHICLES
(01:16) VARIOUS SHOTS – A MEMBER OF THE NORWEGIAN ARMY TALKING TO TWO SOLDIERS FROM THE NETHERLANDS MARINE CORPS
(01:29) WIDE SHOT – MEMBERS OF THE NETHERLANDS MARINE CORPS STANDING NEXT TO A BV206 AMPHIBIOUS TRACKED VEHICLE
(01:38) MEDIUM SHOT – A LEOPARD 1 BEACH ARMOURED RECOVERY VEHICLE ADVANCING IN THE WATER
(01:46) VARIOUS SHOTS – MEMBERS OF THE SAN MARCO MARINE BRIGADE PRACTISING THEIR SHARPSHOOTING SKILLS IN THE SNOW
(02:06) VARIOUS SHOTS – MEMBERS OF THE ITALIAN SAN MARCO MARINE BRIGADE HIKING BACK TO CAMP IN THE SNOW
(02:18) VARIOUS SHOTS – SNIPERS FROM THE SAN MARCO MARINE BRIGADE PRACTISING THEIR SHARPSHOOTING SKILLS IN THE SNOW
(03:02) VARIOUS SHOTS – A NORWEGIAN SOLDIER TRAINING MEMBERS OF THE SAN MARCO MARINE BRIGADE IN WINTER SURVIVAL SKILLS
(03:19) VARIOUS SHOTS – FINNISH SOLDIERS FROM THE NYLAND BRIGADE BOARDING THE USS GUNSTON HALL
(04:37) VARIOUS SHOTS – FINNISH SOLDIERS FROM THE NYLAND BRIGADE STANDING IN FORMATION ON THE USS GUNSTON HALL’S WELL DECK
(05:00) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Commander Christopher W. Van Loenen, Commanding Officer, USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), US Navy
“Steadfast Defender is a large-scale live exercise that’s testing NATO’s defence plans. Gunston Hall is participating with the amphibious operations with Steadfast Defender, where we have embarked a Swedish, Finnish and French landing force in order to help them practise doing amphibious operations in an Arctic environment.”
(05:22) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Commander Christopher W. Van Loenen, Commanding Officer, USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), US Navy
“Doing amphibious operations now, during peacetime, allows us to work through interoperability issues, language issues and helps build our efficiency and our resilience, so that when a crisis actually does happen, that we are prepared”.
(05:35) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Commander Christopher W. Van Loenen, Commanding Officer, USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), US Navy
“Amphibious operations are inherently complex because we’re talking about aircraft, small boats, ships, troops, all coordinating and syncing together, and if you’re not communicating, if you’re not interconnected between C4I (Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence) systems and where you are in the battle space, you may not necessarily be able to conduct an amphibious operation. And the Arctic environment is a different environment than where we normally operate because we’re dealing with temperatures and beaches that we don’t normally work with.”
(06:08) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Commander Christopher W. Van Loenen, Commanding Officer, USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), US Navy
“We are happy to be here at Harstad, Norway and we’re proud to be part of the US contingent for Steadfast Defender.”
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