20 • Transformation Through Training • Issue No: 12 • May 2019 Unfortunately the time when we could say that there was no direct threat to our borders is gone and NATO has to face new challenges. To reflect these concerns NATO training system had to be adapted to respond to new requirements and JFTC had to find its place in this new situation as well. The appetite for realistic and well delivered training is growing among NATO community and JFTC is right there to provide that. In 2013, after years of Afghanistan oriented exercises, JFTC seriously moved into NCS/NFS exercises with Loyal Bonus 2013, Land Component Command's (LCC) Izmir Battle Staff Training (BST). Saying this was an easy task would not be true. A completely new exercise setup had to be designed and executed. The first big difference between what JFTC used to do and had to do for LCC was to work with a well-established NATO Headquarters which had its standards, procedures, expectations and very clear opinion of what it wanted to achieve through training. Planning process was challenging because at that time JFTC did not have a scenario team, geospatial capabilities or well established Main Events List/Main Incidents List team and these were core capabilities for the Officer Directing Exercise. These shortfalls were mitigated with devotion and high professionalism of JFTC personnel. This first step on the way back of JFTC to NCS/NFS training paid back in the coming years – “Per aspera ad astra” or simpler “No pain, no gain”. During the years to come JFTC focused on building the capacity to provide high standard training to NCS/NFS elements. It was executed by supporting and participation in exercises conducted by Joint Warfare Centre. Trident Lance 2014 is a good example of a certification exercise for LCC. JFTC provided a robust training team deployed to the exercise venue to monitor achievement of training objectives and advice Training Audience if required. It was an excellent lesson to observe and build a picture of how this kind of exercise (distributed, significant Training Audience, evaluation) should be planned and executed. It also allowed JFTC to compare it to work done with Loyal Bonus 2013. The effects of the analysis were promising. JFTC’s strongest point was flexibility in regards to all aspects of exercise planning and execution to meet the TrainingAudience’s expectations. But at the same time it was obvious that JFTC was missing some key capabilities which would have to be developed in the years to come. The first NCS/NFS exercise with JFTC in the role of Officer Directing Exercise was Trident Joust 2016 with Joint Force Command Brunssum as Officer Conducting Exercise Multinational Corps Northeast as the Training Audience. The exercise focus was to maintain NATO Response Force level of proficiency and demonstrate the capability to plan and conduct operations within Very High Readiness Joint Task Force concept. A real plan was set up, and that setup was different from what JFTC used to do and from