The second part of NATO mine countermeasures exercise Dynamic Move 20 commenced on 31 August 2020 in La Spezia with 11 nations taking part, NATO Maritime Command announced.
Dynamic Move is the principal biannual computer assisted exercise planned and executed by the NATO Maritime Command (MARCOM), aimed at building international staff capabilities in conducting a full range of mine countermeasures operations.
While the first part of the exercise is traditionally hosted by EGUERMIN (École de Guerre des Mines) in Belgium, the second part is hosted for the third time by the Italian Mine Warfare Forces Command. The main training audience is comprised of Allied navy mine countermeasures officers and petty officers including present staff of the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group Two (SNMCMG2), led by Commander Dimitrios Katsouras of the Hellenic Navy.
Other participating nations include: Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Turkey, and the US.
The exercise is controlled by naval mine warfare experts and other subject matter experts including maritime scientists, NATO Shipping Centre officers, legal advisors and media experts as well as personnel from École de Guerre des Mines, the NATO Naval Mine Warfare Centre of Excellence, the Italian Mine Warfare Training Centre (MARICENDRAG) and the NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE).
This year due to COVID-19 measures, the exercise has been reduced to fewer participants in order to minimise risk in the training rooms.
Commander of SNMCMG2 expressed his gratitude to the Italian Navy for a well-planned and organised exercise and said: “Dynamic Move 20-2 is an excellent opportunity to cooperate and train with officers from Allied nations in the field of mine countermeasures operations and thus developing and maintaining highly trained forces that can integrate seamlessly”.
Dynamic Move 20-2 kicked off on Monday, 31 August and will last until Friday, 11 September.