Two decades of transformation through training
20 Years of NATO in Bydgoszcz
In 2004, the NATO Joint Force Training Centre was established in Bydgoszcz. It was the first NATO Command Structure installation in this part of Europe. Over the following years, other NATO institutions joined JFTC in Bydgoszcz, to include the NATO Military Police Centre of Excellence, NATO Force Integration Unit Poland, the 3rd NATO Signal Battalion and the NATO Communications and Information Agency Bydgoszcz. The NATO community has become an integral part of the City’s landscape.
JFTC is consistently building good relationships and fostering cooperation with local authorities, widely promoting the Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Bydgoszcz among thousands of its visitors, and also during its engagements abroad. The Bydgoszcz City Council recognised the importance of the JFTC 20th anniversary and proclaimed 2024 “The Year of NATO and JFTC”.
The First NATO Command Structure Institution in Central and Eastern Europe
NATO Joint Force Training Centre directly supports the mission of the Allied Command Transformation and the Allied Command Operations. Established in 2004, the Centre very quickly became a significant player within the NATO training community. In 2005, JFTC conducted its first training - for soldiers preparing for their service within the International Security Assistance Force Mission in Afghanistan. The pre-deployment training, as this type of preparation is called, became JFTC’s main area of effort for many years to come. It is still holding an important spot in the Centre’s programme of work.
In 2009, the Centre moved into a newly built, bespoke facility with advanced communication and information systems (CIS). With the cutting-edge technology, flexible CIS and responsive, scalable support, NATO Joint Force Training Centre has occupied a critical spot in NATO transformation process ever since.
Evolution
2011 marked another milestone in the JFTC history. For the first time, the Centre hosted the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise – NATO’s premier annual interoperability event. Since then, JFTC has continuously strengthened its footprint in the area of testing and experimentation. Support to Allied warfare development has become one of JFTC’s key areas of focus and expertise, and is still playing an important role in the Centre’s mission.
Soon after, the Centre became more engaged into exercises for NATO Command Structure and NATO Force Structure. It also hosted several national level exercises. This area of JFTC’s engagement developed over the following decade, with exercises hosted in Bydgoszcz and with JFTC experts supporting various exercises all over NATO, to become the Centre’s primary effort nowadays.
In 2014, the International Security Assistance Force Mission came to an end, and a non-combat, training, advice and assistance Resolute Support Mission was launched in Afghanistan in 2015. JFTC was tasked to provide pre-deployment training for the new mission, and continued this effort until the conclusion of the Resolute Support Mission in 2021.
Moreover, still in 2015, the Centre assumed a new task – responsibility for Exercise NATO-Georgia 2016 and for mentoring the newly established NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Centre (JTEC). The JFTC engagement in NATO-Georgia exercises as well as cooperation with the JTEC, that over the course of years evolved from mentoring to partnership, have continued since then.
Following a request from the Iraqi government, in 2018 NATO launched a new, non-combat advisory and capacity-building mission, the NATO Mission Iraq (NMI). JFTC was automatically tasked to set up and execute a respective pre-deployment training. With its 15-years’ experience in training for allied missions, JFTC was a natural choice for this endeavour. The NMI Pre-Deployment Training is still an important element of JFTC programme of work.
Growing in Strength
With NATO training requirements dynamically developing, and NATO Joint Force Training Centre programme of work significantly increasing, the Centre needed adequate adjustments in its structure. The process started in 2018, with the initiation of the NATO Command Structure Adaptation. Over the following years JFTC workforce has grown considerably to achieve its current status.
As of 2024, JFTC structure consists of 170 core positions, soldiers and civilians with the expertise to support a wide range of NATO training. Furthermore, JFTC is responsible for the NATO-Georgia team at the Joint Training and Evaluation Centre in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The following 22 NATO nations are represented at the JFTC structure: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and one Partnership for Peace nation – Georgia.
As the Centre’s workforce was growing, it also received new tasks. One of them was Exercise STEADFAST PYRAMID/ STEADFAST PINNACLE. Starting from 2018, JFTC has been responsible for this exercise series that introduces the recently appointed NATO flag and general officers to the Alliance’s planning process, doctrine and policy.
JFTC Today
Support to Future Operations
After years of building expertise in NATO exercises, and after months of detailed planning, in 2020, JFTC conducted its first LEDA-series exercise, LOYAL LEDA 2020. Since then, LEDA series has become the flagship of the JFTC’s programme of work. Exercises STEADFAST LEDA 2021, LOYAL LEDA 2022, 2024 and 2025 that followed, trained and evaluated several Allied Corps in their NATO Warfighting Corps’ roles. Each gathered several thousand troops across Europe, and hundreds of soldiers and civilians steering the events from JFTC, they also proved JFTC’s critical position in building NATO’s cohesion, resilience, and readiness.
To complement exercises for future NATO Warfighting Corps, the Centre has continued conducting exercises STEADFAST PYRAMID and PINNACLE for flag and general officers appointed for NATO highest military positions.
Support to Current Operations
Building on vast experience from previous NATO missions, JFTC continues the mission focused pre-deployment training. Now, the Centre ensures that future members of the NATO Mission Iraq gain the knowledge, flexibility and capacity to advise and assist their counterparts while laying groundwork for their long-term sustainment.
Support to Warfare Development
JFTC has well-established capabilities, capacities and processes to support higher HQs with warfare development, experimentation, innovation and doctrine validation requirements in both standalone events and those integrated into the existing exercises. JFTC has a battle laboratory in its premises. It is also the home of the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise, NATO’s premier annual interoperability event which gathers over 2000 participants from close to 40 nations and agencies.
NATO Partnerships
NATO Joint Force Training Centre closely cooperates with NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Centre (JTEC). In 2016, JFTC took a leading role in NATO-Georgia mentoring programme that evolved into a partnership based on the agreement signed in December 2020. After a successful completion of NATO-Georgia Exercise 2022, JFTC and its JTEC advisors are getting ready for the next iteration of the exercise planned for spring 2025.
20 Highlights Throughout 20 Years
- NATO Prague Summit of 2002. Transformation becomes one of the Alliance’s priorities
- 2004. 31 March – official formation. 25 June – Inauguration Ceremony
- 2005. JFTC cornerstone ceremony. JFTC begins its support to ISAF mission and NRF exercises
- 2006/2007. Dynamic development of training activities;
- 2007. JFTC begins to play an important role in developing tools supporting NATO training. A test bed for the Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation system launched in May
- 2008. Shift of focus towards support to ongoing operations. “I confirm that training support to ongoing operations is JFTC’s first priority. For the foreseeable future, support to NRF Joint Component training will remain JFTC’s second priority.” – General J. N. Mattis, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, August 2008.
- 2008/2009. Ribbon cutting ceremony and moving to the new facility
- 2010. JFTC grows in strength. New structure, 105 posts instead of 87
- 2011. JFTC becomes the home of the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise
- 2012. Connected Forces Initiative, launched at the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago, becomes a highlight at JFTC with Puma 12 and Bold Dragon 12 exercises
- 2014/2015. With the end of ISAF and beginning of the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, JFTC shifts its main training effort from a combat to a non-combat mission
- 2015/2016. Beginning of cooperation with NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Centre and JFTC’s involvement in NATO-Georgia Exercises
- 2016. Exercise Trident Joust 16 marks JFTC first involvement in support to Very High Readiness Joint Task Force
- 2017. JFTC develops its training capacities with a newly established expeditionary command post area
- 2018. New task – exercises STEADFAST PYRAMID and STEADFAST PINNACLE for flag and general officers appointed to the highest NATO military positions
- 2018/2019. JFTC grows in strength. With new structure of 170 posts, the Centre receives a new task – support to NATO warfare development
- 2019. New pre-deployment training. Future members of NATO Mission Iraq get their final preparation before deployment
- 2020. With NATO Exercise LOYAL LEDA 2020, LEDA exercise series becomes a highlight of the JFTC’s programme of work
- 2021-2023. Development of LEDA exercise series. JFTC becomes a key venue for tactical level exercises for future NATO Warfighting Corps
- 2024. 20 years of Transformation Through Training
