NATO announced yesterday that exercise Steadfast Defender 24, “NATO’s largest exercise in decades,” kicked off with the departure from Norfolk, Virginia, of the assault ship USS Gunston Hall, which “marks the first tactical movement of Steadfast Defender 24.” This movement will be followed by the departure of “His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Charlottetown,” a frigate, from Nova Scotia later this month. The exercise runs through May 31, in several locations across Eastern Europe.