NATO will be flexing its muscles with its largest war game for the last decade, part of which will happen in Almeria. Trident Junction 2015 will see 30.000 troops mobilised in war games across the EU, with several important operations taking place here in October.
The province will see troops stationed at the military base in Viator and also see war ships in the Alboran sea. Last years operation “Noble Mariner 14” staged an “invasion” of Almeria by 4.000 marines who stormed ashore near Villaricos, and this year promises to be even bigger.
Not all of the 30.000 troops are going to be here, of course, but a fair chunk of military hardware will be trooping around the third week of October, plus all the ships. Other “invasions” will be going on at Rota (Cádiz), San Gregorio (Zaragoza), Chinchilla (Albacete) and Torrejón air base (Madrid).
There will be two phases to Trident Juncton. The first phase, from October 3-16 sees NATO military commanders working in unison across eight NATO countries and two oceans, ensuring that military communications work efficiently between bases. The second phase, from October 24 to November 6, sees physical military actions such as urban combat, amphibious landings, special ops and paratroop drops amongst other exercises.
Spain is the largest contributor to this years war games, sending 8.000 troops, 23 tanks, ten helicopters, 13 war ships and 35 war planes. The USA will send a further 3.000 troops of which 800 will be marines.
NATO says this is “a giant puzzle” which is “the largest and most ambitious war games in modern history”. The exercises will be watched by observers from the African Union, Brasil, Colombia, Marruecos, Tunez and NATO allied states.