I. Images: The Modern Nation-State

 

 

 

Scenario design. In order to provide a shared understanding of the operational picture driving Saber Strike 2017, and specifically the AASLT, attack, and FPOL, USAREUR used the Skolkan scenario as the architecture for the opposing force. The Skolkan scenario supports a NATO Article 5 response, focused on “preserving the territorial integrity of NATO members”2 The final opposing force scheme of maneuver was a multibrigade attack into the Baltics, with Lithuania itself having a single enemy division attacking to isolate the capital and seize key terrain in the Suwalki Gap. Additionally, a notional enemy airborne battalion jumped into the Suwalki Gap to seize the two roads that run north and south through the gap and connect Poland and Lithuania (see figure 2).

Figure 2. Phase II of Exercise Saber Strike 2017—a Notional Enemy Airborne Battalion Jumps into the Suwalki Gap to Seize Key Terrain

Figure 2. Phase II of Exercise Saber Strike 2017—a Notional Enemy Airborne Battalion Jumps into the Suwalki Gap to Seize Key Terrain (Photo courtesy of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota Army National Guard Public Affairs)