Exercise ‘Steadfast Defender 2021' to test NATO's new command structure by Nicholas Fiorenza NATO exercise ‘Steadfast Defender 2021’, which is being held between 12 May and 2 June, will be the first major test of the alliance’s adapted command structure, involving the new Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC) in Ulm, Germany, and Joint Force Command (JFC) Norfolk in Virginia in the United States. Exercise ‘Steadfast Defender 2021’ will test NATO's adapted command structure. (NATO) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was quoted on the alliance’s website on 7 May as saying, “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 ... with over 9,000 troops, [demonstrating] that NATO has the capabilities and resolve to protect all allies against any threat.”