Minister Schnider inspeccts Raven drone at White Wolf exercise; Credit: EMA

On Monday 22 January 2018, Étienne Schneider, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, visited the Military Centre in Diekirch to see first-hand the operation of the "First Wolf" multinational exercise, which is being held this week in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg within the framework of NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF).

NATO took action at the Wales Summit in 2014 to address the security concerns of allies. Thus the allies decided to strengthen the NATO Response Force (NRF) and establish the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), capable of deploying on very short notice (5 days).

Luxembourg participates in the VJTF 2019 by providing a reconnaissance company, specifically a command post and a platoon. A Dutch platoon is integrated into the reconnaissance company. Luxembourg also provides a transport platoon and support elements. In total, the number of Luxembourg servicemen participating in the VJTF is 103.

The VJTF 2019 is preceded by one year of implementation (notice: 45 days) and followed by a year of standby (notice: 30 days).

The "First Wolf" multinational exercise is being organised in Luxembourg from 22 to 25 January 2018 and is part of the training cycle of the VJTF. Over 4 days the Luxembourgish and Dutch military will train together according to a specific scenario.