On the way to joining the Marfor family

The DEU MARFOR command staff from the perspective of a young troop officer

In a tectonically turbulent zone on the Italian coast is not only Mount Vesuvius, one of the world's most dangerous and notorious volcanoes, but also an equally imposing NATO building. With its six floors and endlessly long corridors, where almost all Western languages are represented, the Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) Naples is equally impressive on a first visit. I am there as part of the Maritime Component Command (MCC) Liaison Cell, under the direction of our French counterpart FRMARFOR, planning the Steadfast Jupiter exercise. Together with officers from Italy, the UK and Turkey, we will be the direct contacts during Crisis Response Planning (CRP) over the next few days.