Initial Planning Conference “Jackal Stone 12”

An initial planning conference in support of the implementation of an international military exercise “Jackal Stone 12”, which will be held in September 2012 in Croatia, was held from 15 to 17 November 2011 in Lora Naval Base in Split.

The organizers of the initial planning conference were the Directorate for Operations and Training of the General Staff and Special Operations Battalion, in cooperation with the U.S. Special Operations Command Europe – SOCEUR and relevant Government departments and representatives of the Ministry of Defence. The conference was attended by representatives of twelve NATO member countries, and the host of the conference was Chief of Operations and Training Directorate Major General Jozo Milicevic.

“Jackal Stone 12” is the largest international military exercise of special forces in Europe, which aims to increase cooperation and interoperability between the armed forces of participating countries with the aim of strengthening regional security and stability, and training procedures and raising the skills of planning and implementation of activities of units for special operations.

Through combat training, exercise provides an insight into the special forces readiness and the ability of partner countries for rapid response and joint operations against security threats. Each participating countries pay for all its costs of participation on the exercise. In addition, through this project, EUCOM and SOCEUR will invest certain funds in the construction of CAF infrastructure through the so-called program of military-military cooperation as well as funds for infrastructure used by local government in the areas of exercise conduct.

Through excellent cooperation of the CAF with the relevant ministries and civil institutions of the Republic of Croatia engaged in the preparation of exercises, Initial Planning Conference made it possible to create a framework for successful implementation of the “Jackal Stone 12” exercise.