Felipe VI attends exercise ‘Trident Juncture’

His Majesty the King during the exercise

Exercise Trident Juncture 2015

His Majesty the King in the training ground

His Majesty the King visited the “San Jorge” base and the “San Gregorio” training centre, both in Zaragoza, on 30 October, to observe the development of the exercise “Trident Juncture”. The exercise is serving to train and certify the 2016 NATO Response Force (NRF), whose land component command will be led by the Headquarters of the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps in Spain (HQ NRDC-SP), with base in Bétera (Valencia).

Felipe VI was accompanied by the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Admiral Fernando García Sánchez, the Chief of the Army Staff, Army General Jaime Domínguez Buj, and the commander of the High Readiness Forces Land HQ, Lieutenant General Rafael Comas. They toured the command post and then visited the Tres Poyetes observatory, where His Majesty witnessed a tactical exhibition. Lastly, Don Felipe met some of the Spanish soldiers taking part in the exercise.

On this occasion and for the first time, NRF will include a Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), the bulk of which comes from the 7th Light Infantry Brigade “Galicia”.

Before leaving Zaragoza, Don Felipe expressed his deep sorrow over the death of the three Air Force soldiers who suffered an accident on 22 October off the coast of the Western Sahara, and whose bodies had been found the previous day after a week-long search.