Online Press Briefing with Major General Robert B. Sofge Jr.

MODERATOR:  Good afternoon from the State Department’s Brussels Media Hub.  I’d like to welcome everyone joining for today’s virtual press briefing.  Today, we’re very honored to be joined by Major General Robert Sofge, Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, to talk about exercise Nordic Response.

Finally, a reminder that today’s briefing is on the record.  With that, let’s get started.  Major General Sofge, thank you so much for joining us today.  I’d like to turn it over to you for your opening remarks.

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  Well, thank you, Dan.  I appreciated the opportunity to be here today, and I’d like to thank everybody for the opportunity to showcase the great work taking place now between the United States, Norway, and our NATO Allies and partners during exercise Nordic Response ’24.  As you said, I’m Major General Bob Sofge, the Commander of U.S. Marine Forces Europe and Africa, and I’m honored to represent both U.S. European Command and U.S. participation in the Nordic Response exercise.

I want to begin this morning by underscoring the importance of our relationship between the United States and the Nordic countries Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark.  Our Marine Corps’ longstanding relationship in particular with the Nordic militaries continues to develop Marine Corps lethality with the numerous annual exercises across the High North that we participate in.

We’ve learned a lot from our friends, and we’re proud of our contributions to Arctic security and the excellent relationships we have here, and with our friends from the other 14 militaries participating in Nordic Response.

Nordic Response, Archipelago Endeavor, and Freezing Winds are just some of the exercises that we participate in between our great countries, and we’re stronger together because of it.  I want to emphasize that the military exercises are more than just moving people and equipment; it’s more than training together; it’s more than working together on shared tactics and procedures or even enduring shared hardship.  The military exercises are a powerful venue to share and celebrate our respective cultures, and appreciate them.

I specifically would like to thank the local communities of Norway, Sweden, and Finland.  You’re always warm and welcoming, and I know that all U.S. servicemembers – specifically Marines – greatly appreciate your legendary hospitality.  So on behalf of all of us, thank you.

With diplomatic relations in Norway forged nearly 120 years ago, our two nations and our militaries remain operationally and tactically balanced and synchronized.  In addition to the various opportunities for U.S. servicemembers to train here in the High North each year, a significant number of Norwegian servicemembers travel to the United States for joint training and education.  The robust security relationship between the United States and Norway with our combined exercises, bilateral exchanges, shared investments, and the combined planning that we exercise makes our forces stronger together and ready for future security challenges.  I’m proud of the long-running military exchange partnership we have.

Exercise Nordic Response ’24 is hosted by Norway, of course, and supported by the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe together with other services and Allied and partner nations.  Our exercise here will allow us to continue to hone our skills, finetune our interoperability, nurture key relationships, and acclimate to the challenges posed by fighting in the extreme cold weather and rugged mountainous terrain.

Nordic Response differs from past exercises – Cold Response, as it was formerly known – and that includes participants from across the Nordic countries working together to ensure we can effectively cooperate across all warfighting domains.

The exercise kicked off a few days ago and will take place until March 15th.  The U.S. is represented by servicemembers from the United States Marine Corps, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and the United States Air Force, among others, who are operating out of Norwegian and Swedish bases and training areas, to include Finnmark regions.

Like all Allied nations, the United States has collective defense responsibilities tied to our NATO membership.  There is a long list of exercises taking place in the High North region that are designed to secure the collective defense of Norway and the Alliance.  Our ability to respond quickly to crisis to assure Allies and partners rests upon the fact that we are here in Europe, forward and ready.

This year, Nordic Response involves a total of 14 Allied and partner nations and falls under the umbrella of NATO exercise Steadfast Defender, as the Alliance celebrates NATO’s 75th anniversary.  Throughout the exercise, we are committed to ensuring our collective leaders and teams, understand the synergy of the air, sea, cyberspace, and land power domains in a joint coalition environment.

Our greatest strategic advantage in the Arctic region is a network of Allies and partners committed to Arctic security, and more importantly, peace and prosperity.  Nordic Response stresses that now is the time to get our systems connected, our doctrine aligned, and to share our tactics to ensure we can sense and make sense in a complex battlefield, in the harshest of conditions, against a capable opponent.

Thanks and I’d like to open the floor up to any – for any of your questions you may have about the exercise or anywhere else you’d like to go.  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  Now we’ll turn to the question-and-answer portion.  Okay, the first question will be one of the written ones, and our first question goes to Marek Świerczyński from Polityka Insight in Poland, and the question is:  “What specific roles do you envision – do you envisage for the U.S. Marine Corps in a scenario of defending the Baltic States or the Baltic Sea region against Russian aggression?”

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  Thank you for the question.  I think specifically the U.S. Marine Corps, in conjunction with our Allies and partners both jointly and in the combined force, would work hard in the littoral regions.  As you know, we’re a littoral force.   Much of our force design and transformation recently has reinforced that position and greatly improved our lethality.  I think you could expect us to – at the unclassified level to use our expertise in the littoral regions to reinforce the defense of Norway and other NATO Allies.

MODERATOR:  Okay, thank you, sir.  So the next question is from Alfonso Bianchi from Europa Today based in Italy, and the question is:  “In the hypothetical case of a real attack on a NATO country by Russia or anyone else, and a subsequent war with that attacking country, how would the chain of command work in the NATO forces?  Who would be in charge?  Which role would each member-state have?  And is there a standard set of rules for a situation like that, or does NATO decide when it actually happens how to do that?  And in that case, how would it be?”

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  Thank you, Alfonso, for that question.  I think the – well, of course in – for NATO, SACEUR is in charge, but everyone would have a role to play in the Alliance.  From – it sounds like you’re asking a little bit in an Article 5 situation that the – if something like that were triggered, how would that work?  Well, of course, much of that’s classified.  Know that we have forces that are ready, and Nordic Response is exercising many of those relationships against any threat, right, against – and what that would look like.

So I think the – everyone would have to play their role and contribute robustly to the defense of NATO in the event of an attack, right.  So the – I think that’s how it would work.  Over.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  All right.  Our next question is from Alexandra Brzozowski from Euractiv based in Belgium:  “With NATO’s expansion towards Finland, and soon Sweden, what is practically changing with the Alliance’s posture in the region, especially in regards to the defendability of the Suwalki Gap and the Arctic?”

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  The – well, we’re getting better.  We’re getting stronger.  The accession of Finland and hopefully Sweden here in the days ahead, the – NATO is – was strong before and it’s stronger now.  It’s better.  So I think the – that’s what I think has practically changed, and in the High North in particular I think it allows for a synergy perhaps that we didn’t have previously amongst – from a collective defense perspective that I think is just great news for all involved.

MODERATOR:  All right, thank you, sir.  Now, the next question is from Frank Cadamarteri from the outlet Adresseavisen from Norway, and the question is:  “With the U.S. and the U.S. armed forces turning more attention towards Asia and China especially, do you see a possibility for further reduction in numbers of Marines and other U.S. military personnel in Europe in the coming years?”

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  Thanks, Frank, for the question.  I would note that today, right now, there are more Marines in Europe than there have been in almost anyone’s memory.  It is – so I – the Marines are a global force that respond to crisis, that respond to conflict, and are prepared to go to any clime and place, right, to do our nation’s business and our nation’s – and contribute to what the United States is doing in NATO.

So I don’t think that you’ll see a reduction, per se, in U.S. Marine forces or U.S. forces in general in Europe.  (Inaudible.)

MODERATOR:  Okay, this is the moderator just coming in.  I think we may have lost the connection temporarily, so I’m going to see if we can test that line.  Just one moment.  Apologize for the technical difficulties here.  Major General Sofge, if you are still with us, could you please give us a line just so that we know you’re still connected?

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  It’s General Sofge; I dropped off there for a moment.  I think I ended with, or I intended to end with, we’re – the Marines are forward and ready, and I don’t see a – we’ll go where we’re needed, wherever we’re needed in the world.  Thanks.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir, and glad we restored the line there.  Okay, here is our next question, and this question comes from Tim Stickings of The National:  “As the exercise effectively simulates a Russian attack, does it incorporate any intelligence on Russia’s battlefield tactics observed in Ukraine?”

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  Thanks for the question.  I don’t think it would be appropriate to comment on that, just for levels of classification.  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  Okay.  I’m going to ask our journalists who are on the line if anyone has an additional question.  We have gotten through all of the submitted questions so far, but we do have the opportunity – okay, we have a new question.  And we have a new question now from Jacopo Barigazzi from Politico Europe.  And the question is:  “How easy is it” – excuse me – “How easy is it to integrate Finland and Sweden into NATO from the point of view of interoperability, and what do you think of the EU plans to boost their defense industry from the point of standards?”  I’m not sure exactly that last part, but anyway, what do you think of the EU plans to boost their defense industry in general?

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  Okay, I’ll take those in order.  First on the ease of bringing Finland and Sweden into NATO from an interoperability perspective, as you know, even before their accession into NATO, we’ve had robust exchanges for years, and I think the – from Freezing Winds and some other exercises, Archipelago Endeavor and some others, the – we’ve been working on interoperability for many years.  So I think from a technical perspective, it’s pretty easy.  Those are professional militaries, professional people, and greatly skilled in the craft right there of fighting in the High North.  So I think the – there’s a lot there.  I mean, it’s more people, there’s more opportunity.  So I think it’s all – it’s all good news there in terms of accession into NATO and how all that works.

I think we’re exercising together significantly here in Norway for the first time all together, like we are in Nordic Response ’24, to kind of sand off any corners that might exist, right, when we bring – when we bring some forces together for the first time and figure out what works best in terms of best practices and tactics, procedures, techniques, things of that nature.  So I don’t think – it’s all good news and opportunities to learn from each other.

The – in terms of the defense industry, I think it’s critical that we recognize what each nation brings to our collective defense and that we make the appropriate investments in that.  All of us need to do that, and I would offer that more is better.  And when it comes to defense, and I’ve seen – I think we’ve seen even at the Munich Security Conference some – a collective commitment, right, to renewed efforts in defense spending among many nations, how each nation chooses to do it.  So I think that’s – I think it’s all good news there as well.

I’d note that the Nordic countries already – from an industrial perspective already contribute pretty significantly to a lot of things.  In fact, my own service uses some equipment that is manufactured here.  Over.

MODERATOR:  All right, thank you, sir.  I am looking at some questions that are rolling in – rolling in now.  So let us go to a question from Marco Giannangeli, and I don’t have the list of his outlet, but he’s one of our journalists on the line:  “How soon does NATO forecast potential conflict in the High North?  Or maybe rephrasing that a bit, what is the NATO evaluation of potential in the High North for possible conflict?”

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  Well, I think if our purpose is to assure and deter, if our deterrence works, then never.

MODERATOR:  A very good, very clear answer.  All right.  Major General, I would like to ask a question of my own here, and we have a little bit of time remaining.  And we’d like to call on your deep experience with the United States Marine Corps.  And perhaps you could talk a little bit about what the Marine Corps specifically brings both for this exercise that’s happening right now but just – but also more generally in terms of its profile in Europe and contributing to the defense of Europe.

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  That’s – thanks for the question, Dan.  I think specifically what the Marine Corps brings with the naval force – or there’s two layers really I’d like to talk about.  First, the Marines as part of the naval force in the U.S. offering to security here in Europe and Africa – recall I’m also U.S. Marine Forces Africa.  So the – to the two continents, I think what we bring is a crisis response force that is able to quickly, on behalf of the United States or Allies, bring force to bear to give senior leadership time and options to think about what to do next.   So the – uniquely the Marine Corps brings that capability from a naval perspective.  So I think the – it’s important to remember that, and that’s true not just here but globally, right.  The U.S. Marine Corps has global reach.  So I think we contribute that here.

We of course bring a few skillsets to the collective effort.  I think our expertise in amphibious operations is something that’s particularly useful in the High North, and the nature of the geography and topography here supports something that the United States Marine Corps is particularly good at.  And I think we also bring this relationship we’ve had with Norway specifically is – we’re on fertile ground, I should say, with the accession of Finland and Sweden hopefully here very soon.

MODERATOR:  Okay, thank you for that.  Well, unfortunately, that is all the time we have for today’s call.  Thank you to all of our journalists for the questions, and a very big thank you to Major General Robert Sofge for joining us.  But before we end, I would like to turn to the Major General and ask him if he has final remarks or final thoughts that he’d like to share.

MAJOR GENERAL SOFGE:  I think the – thanks, Dan.  And thanks, everybody, for taking the time to join.  I think my closing comment would be to just say thank you to all the participants in this, not just Nordic Response but the entire Steadfast Defender effort that really demonstrates the power of likeminded nations, the NATO Alliance, and what we’re able to do when we set our minds to it.  So thanks to everyone for their hospitality, their – and their contribution to all of our security.  It matters.  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  Thank you very much, sir.  Okay, shortly, the Brussels Hub will send the audio recording of the briefing to all the participating journalists and provide a transcript as soon as it’s available.  We’d also love to hear your feedback, and you can contact us anytime at the email address TheBrusselsHub@state.gov.  That’s TheBrusselsHub – one word – @state.gov Thanks again for your participation, thank you very much to our speaker today, and we hope you can join us for another press briefing soon.  And this ends today’s press briefing.