“In 2014, the United States European Command (EUCOM) celebrates the 20-year anniversary of Combined Endeavor, the premier interoperability and cyber defense exercise between NATO and Partnership for Peace (PfP) nations. In September 2013, more than 1,200 people from 40 nations and transnational organizations gathered in Grafenwöhr, Germany, to test their interoperability and cyber defense skills in a collaborative environment. During the past two decades, this exercise has become the bellwether of interoperability training for NATO and PfP nations and now has become so for cyber security as well. It began with 10 countries seeking to achieve multiple layers of interoperability at the technical and systems level and, even more importantly, at the human level. The U.S. Department of Defense defines interoperability as “the ability of systems, units, or forces to provide data, information, material and services to and accept the same from other systems, units, or forces, and to use the data, information, material, and services exchanged to enable them to operate effectively together.” Combined Endeavor began with this premise...”

Excerpt from Robert L. Watson, “Combined Endeavor,” per Concordiam: Journal of European Security Defense Issues  5, No. 2, 2014: 20-23.

Robert L. Watson is chief of the combined interoperability branch at the U.S. European Command C4 and Cyber Directorate. He retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel specializing in operations research analysis. He has taught at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

This article reflects the views of the author and are not necessarily the official policy of the United States, Germany, or any other governments.