North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Transformation
May 7, 2013
Allied Reach 2013 Kicks off in Norfolk, Va.
NATO’s senior military leadership and key civilian figures are gathered in Norfolk, VA, USA, for NATO’s Allied Reach 2013 (AR 13).
Allied Reach 2013 (AR 13), a high-level seminar conducted biannually and alternately by both of NATO’s two Strategic Commands (SC) opened Tuesday. The purpose of AR 13 is to offer an opportunity to frame discussion and build a shared vision of the Alliance’s future operating environment.
Participants include NATO nations’ senior military and civilian leadership and staff along with select representatives from international and political bodies. This year, Allied Command Transformation (ACT) is the lead SC headquarters planning and running the seminar which is being held over a period of three days. For the occasion the Joint Force Staff College opened its campus to host the event.
The theme of this year’s seminar is “Forging the Future – Leading NATO Military Transformation.” AR 13 serves to build a common understanding, at both the strategic and operational levels of the potential implications of the evolving strategic and geo-political environment. “This AR seminar is a perfect venue to imagine where the borders of this future operating environment might be and to explore the limits of our future operations within those boundaries” said General Paloméros in his opening remarks. “I am pretty sure that during our seminar we will have to confront the fog of uncertainty of the post 2014 perspective in which the Alliance will have to, once again, keep pace with the changing environment.”
The seminar offers a crucial opportunity for senior leaders to frame discussion and debate, and contribute to better prepare NATO in facing future threats and challenges as well as actively participate in the future transformational concept development. It also is a valuable forum to examine which NATO military capabilities may be needed to help secure and defend member nations and assist them, if and when necessary in preserving their respective political and strategic interests, as well as discuss how NATO should be equipped, structured, organized, prepared and trained to meet future challenges.
To enhance the cooperative and collaborative character of the seminar, and in addition to plenary discussions, participants are divided into six working groups required to conduct detailed analysis and debate on the following broader themes: Crisis Management Operations, Cooperative Security and Partnerships, Space and Cyber, Connected Forces Initiative (CFI) and NATO Forces 2020, Collective Defence, and People.
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