North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
July 10, 2013
SACEUR – LANDCOM is first line of defence for retaining jointness
Story by: Lt. Col. Angela Funaro, U.S. Army
LANDCOM Public Affairs Office
Izmir, Turkey: The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) made his first visit to Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) Headquarters on Tuesday, 9 July 2013, since assuming command of NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and U.S. European Command last May.
General Philip M. Breedlove was happy to return to the NATO base that until recently served as headquarters to Air Command-Izmir when he was the commander of U.S. Air Force Europe (USAFE) and NATO’s Air Component Command in Ramstein, Germany.
General Breedlove told the command group and staff that the most important reason for Allied Land Command’s (LANDCOM) existence was to retain the level of cooperation, cohesiveness, tactics, techniques, procedures, competencies and capabilities that the Alliance has developed over the past 12 years deployed together as part of the International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan.
“I’m afraid that if we do nothing, it will all go away,” he said. “LANDCOM is the first line of defence to hang onto ‘jointness’ as potentially the lead ground element for the Alliance to perform joint operational functions such as fire support, intelligence, communications and sustainment.”
The SACEUR said he was challenging all of the NATO component commands – AIRCOM, LANDCOM and MARCOM – to move away from a single-service mindset and modify exercises, education and training to prepare the Graduated Response Forces (GRFs) to deploy and operate as part of a multi-service, multi-national coalition.
The LANDCOM commander, Lt. General Frederick “Ben” Hodges (USA-Army), agreed. “We’re a nascent headquarters, giving us a sense of urgency. The world’s not going to wait until we’re [at] FOC [full operational capability].”
Colonel Gordon Falconer (GBR-Army), LANDCOM’s assistant Chief of Staff for Operations delivered the command briefing to the SACEUR and his travelling party and defined the headquarters’ overarching purpose.
“LANDCOM exists so that if you’re that Portuguese soldier operating in KFOR [Kosovo Force] or that Turkish soldier supporting RC [Regional Command]-North in Afghanistan, you are prepared.”
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Falconer explained that in the future, a CERTEX needs scenario development that is focused beyond the NATO Response Force (NRF) level, collaboration with AIRCOM and MARCOM, augmentation and communication network protocol compatibility to facilitate effective command and control.
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The SACEUR reiterated that he would challenge each NATO component command to develop a training and certification program for 2015 and beyond to consolidate and condense resources and expects them to conduct fewer exercises.
“We can’t afford a hodge podge of exercises and training focused on the preparation of individual units,” said Breedlove. “We need to plan ones geared for two to three groups of training audiences.”
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