North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Transformation
October 8, 2014
NATO Military Committee discusses Transformation in Norfolk
Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Hendrick L. Dickson
In Norfolk, Virginia, more than 100 of NATO’s most prominent military leaders met at Headquarters, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT) October 7-8, to discuss the Alliance’s transformational agenda and plans to take on future security challenges.
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), French Air Force General Jean-Paul Paloméros hosted NATO’s Military Committee (MC) as an opportunity to update the leaders on Allied Command Transformation’s (ACT) current and future programme of work and provide a platform for the MC to provide the most current direction and guidance for ACT’s future path.
Just a few months removed from the NATO Summit this past September, ACT will be influential in the implementation of many decisions from Wales, including the Readiness Action Plan (RAP) which will improve the collective defence of the Alliance and provide a very high readiness force able to deploy in short notice.
Discussions during the visit focused on how current programmes such as the Connected Forces Initiative (CFI), the NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP) and the Framework for Future Alliance Operations (FFAO) will be used to execute those decisions.
General Paloméros told the senior leaders that he and his staff are embracing the opportunity of laying the education and training framework that will shape the future of the military force.
“From my perspective the Wales Summit was a success,” said General Paloméros. “But now the real success will be to implement what came out of the Wales Summit. From ACT’s point of view it was a great acceptance to carry on a very dynamic transformation.”
The most senior NATO military official, the Chairman of the Military Committee, Danish Army General Knud Bartels, reiterated the importance of ACT carrying forward the Summit’s momentum through the initiatives that ACT has the lead on.
“We have to bring together CFI, the Smart Defence initiative and all those programmes in front of us, bring them together and align them with what we took away from the Wales Summit in order to take full advantage of our military capability and ensure we’re properly equipped to take on all challenges decisively,” General Bartels said.
The MC is composed of senior military officers from all 28 NATO member countries and headed by the Chairman. The committee advises NATO’s political leaders on military policy and strategy and direct NATO’s strategic commanders. The MC plays a key role in the development of NATO’s military policy and doctrine.
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