NATO trainers say Ukraine's rapid wartime pace is spotlighting just how slowly the West moves in peacetime
Working with Ukraine's soldiers has shown NATO trainers how far Western peacetime processes often lag behind the pace of a military fighting for its survival.
Norway runs Operation Legio, a multinational effort that trains Ukrainian troops at Camp Jomsborg in eastern Poland while feeding battlefield lessons back into NATO militaries.
Maj. John, the S3 Operations Officer in charge of synchronizing the training operation, told Business Insider that there's "a lot of learning to be done for European nations."
Camp Jomsborg is trying to adapt to the "operational tempo of a wartime nation," he said, but for much of Europe, more broadly, questions remain about fast, responsible procurement and quick training pipelines that preserve quality.
Brigadier Atle Molde, the commander of Task Force Legio, told Business Insider that "it's not difficult to see that the way we operate in peacetime West wouldn't work."
John said that the operation is working within a "challenging dynamic," with the Camp Jomsborg training sitting at "the mental and geographical middle point between war in the east and peacetime mechanism in the West."
Ukraine needs training and equipment fast, "and our processes, our mechanisms are not that used to that tempo," he said.
The West, John said, is "used to long planning horizons." Ukraine "needs effects now."
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Trying to maintain the right pace has "met some difficulties," John said, but the multinational effort has shown it can adapt when required.
Such adaptation can be seen in how the camp was built. It was carved out of the forest and built in just a few months.
The training also evolves constantly as Ukrainian instructors and returning soldiers share lessons from the front lines. Jomsborg's training teams have already overhauled the trench network several times.
Dive deeper
- Working with Ukraine's soldiers has shown NATO trainers how far Western peacetime processes often lag behind the pace of a military fighting for its survival.
- Norway runs Operation Legio, a multinational effort that trains Ukrainian troops at Camp Jomsborg in eastern Poland while feeding battlefield lessons back into NATO militaries.
- Maj. John, the S3 Operations Officer in charge of synchronizing the training operation, told Business Insider that there's "a lot of learning to be done for European nations."
- Camp Jomsborg is trying to adapt to the "operational tempo of a wartime nation," he said, but for much of Europe, more broadly, questions remain about fast, responsible procurement and quick training pipelines that preserve quality.
- Brigadier Atle Molde, the commander of Task Force Legio, told Business Insider that "it's not difficult to see that the way we operate in peacetime West wouldn't work."
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