Sgt. Donald D. Stoddard’s parents bought a grave for their son after his body went missing during World War II.

BALTOPS 50, the expanded annual NATO naval exercise which this year included defensive cyberwarfare tactics, concluded successfully on Friday, NATO announced.

Whether operating in the Euro-Atlantic or Indo-Pacific theaters, U.S. naval forces and their allies and partners must confront constrictions in operations — in both peacetime and crisis — generated by adversaries attempting to apply anti-access or area denial strategies, known as A2/AD.

Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) concluded the 50th Baltic Operations (BALTOPS), the premiere annual maritime-focused U.S. European Command and U.S. Naval Forces Europe exercise in the Baltic region, June 18.

BALTOPS 50 was begun on the anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 2021. It was first held in 1971 and is an annual military exercise, held and sponsored by the Commander, US Naval Forces Europe and operates in the Baltic Sea and the regions surrounding it.

During late April 2021, I had the chance to visit II MEF at Camp Lejeune. This command is a key part of the overall effort to reshape the working relationship between the operational Navy and the USMC to enable integrated operations.

The Navy and the Marines are reworking ways to enhance their warfighting and deterrence capabilities in the North Atlantic. This effort has been referred to as preparing for the “Fourth Battle of the Atlantic” by Adm. James Foggo III, when he was commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Africa.

May 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy announced plans on Monday for the 50th Baltic Operations, a 13-day multinational exercise in the Baltic Region, to begin on June 6.

During a visit to Camp Lejeune during the last week of April 2021, I had a chance to talk and interview the IIMEF leadership team. They had just concluded a major exercise, Dynamic Cape 21, which I will highlight in some of those in the forthcoming published interviews.

Marines from the 10th Marine Regiment 2d Marine Division trained in an advanced and dangerous raid exercise Wednesday on both Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg.