NATO NATO exercise Steadfast Defender 2021 kicks off this month, bringing together more than 20 NATO Allies and partners from North America and Europe1. “Exercise Steadfast Defender 2021 will test NATO’s readiness and military mobility – with forces deploying across land and sea, all the way from North America to the Black Sea region and off the coast of Portugal,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “With over 9,000 troops, the exercise demonstrates that NATO has the capabilities and the resolve to protect all Allies against any threat,” he added. Steadfast Defender 2021 will be the first large-scale test of NATO’s adapted Command Structure, with the involvement of two new NATO commands – Joint Support and Enabling Command based in Ulm, Germany and Joint Force Command Norfolk, based in the United States.