A formal send-off ceremony in the Lora Navy Port on 11 October 2015 marked the departure of the “Cetina” and DBM-82 “Krka“ landing craft-minelayers transporting the participants and the equipment to the “Trident Juncture 15” taking place in Spain.
The ceremony was attended by the Director of the General Staff of the Croatian General Staff, Rear admiral Robert Hranj, the Croatian Navy Commander, Commodore Predrag Stipanović and the Commander of the Guards Motorised Brigade of the Croatian Army (GMTBR) Brigadier General Boris Šerić . The Director of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, RA Robert Hranj emphasised that  “Trident  Juncture 15” was the largest exercise conducted by NATO in the past 15 years, testing the readiness of the NATO Response Force (NRF). “This is also the first Croatian Armed Forces’ participation in an event of such scale, and an excellent opportunity to test their readiness for the exercise“.  
The Croatian Navy Commander, Commodore Predrag Stipanović expressed satisfaction over the support provided of the Croatian Navy to the Croatian forces participating in the Exercise Trident Juncture 15, demonstrating the skills and abilities in the implementation of the assigned tasks. This is the first engagement for the Croatian Navy ships far off the national territory , which is a novel challenge for its members“.
The Guards Motorised Brigade Commander, Brigadier General, Boris Šerić said the Croatian Army would deploy a mechanised platoon of the Mechanised Battalion, with 40 soldiers and 4 Patria vehicles of the Guards Mechanised Brigade, a S3 liaison officer, a support group with six servicemen and two motor vehicles, an observer/controller (equipped with a vehicle) and a damage control officer, presenting the Croatian unit declared for the NRF 16 and enhancing its interoperability with other Allies.
“The participation in the Trident Juncture 15 Exercise is the culmination of the national training and fulfills the international training commitments. The complexity of the exercise will be an opportunity to test the interoperability and integrability into an international environment. This is the first deployment of a Croatian Army unit by land, sea and air“, said Brigadier General Šerić. 
The Exercise Trident Juncture involves a corps-level training group (30,000 personnel) from three services. The Croatian platoon will join the rest of the 8,100 troops stationed in the San Gregorio exercise area.