There’s lots of activity on the pier by the command ship HDMS THETIS. Within hours, the Danish Task Group must move from the ship to Naval District Bornholm. Shortly after HDMS THETIS arrived at Rønne harbour this morning, key personnel from the staff were sent off to the Naval District to get communications and other systems up and running. Now everything is in place and the rest of the staff follows.

“It’s a possibility the staff has that we can move from a command centre afloat – on a ship – to a command centre ashore,” says Commander s.g. Jens Bjørnsteen who is Chief of Staff for Danish Task Group. “As long as we have the necessary communications and command systems, we can in principle command a naval force from anywhere,” the Chief of Staff adds.

It is Danish Task Group that has planned DANEX 2010 and also conducts the exercise. Yesterday, Sunday, the exercise went into its final phase, where the ships do not know what will happen. They are given tasks, but along the way they are exposed to unexpected events such as terrorist attacks and pirates, hijacking ships.

“It is a demanding task to plan and conduct an exercise like DANEX 2010, but it is also both exiting and interesting to see, how the participants handle the many tasks,” explains Jens Bjørnsteen. “Now we are running the final part of the exercise with solid ground under our feet, but the staff really is most comfortable at sea. It gives us a better feeling of how the ships are doing and how work is progressing. But we both can and must be flexible,” the Chief of Staff concludes.