By Jim Garamone<br />American Forces Press Service<br /><br />BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 12, 2003 – NATO defense ministers<br />approved the most extensive command structure revision in<br />the history of the alliance today.<br /><br />Under the plan, the number of NATO headquarters will drop<br />from 20 to 11 and will place the alliance firmly on the<br />road to counter the threats of the 21st century, NATO<br />officials said.<br /><br />U.S. officials are pleased with the changes. A senior<br />defense official speaking on background said this will<br />leave NATO forces better organized to conduct joint<br />combined operations. There will be two new strategic<br />commands: Allied Command-Europe will become Allied Command-<br />Operations; Allied Command-Atlantic changes to Allied<br />Command-Transformation.<br /><br />U.S. Navy Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. has been<br />nominated as the Supreme Allied Commander-Transformation,<br />which will be headquartered in Norfolk, Va. U.S. Marine<br />Corps Gen. James Jones will remain Supreme Allied<br />Commander-Europe; his headquarters will remain the Supreme<br />Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, but his NATO command<br />will be Allied Command-Operations. Jones' geographic area<br />of operations will also expand.<br /><br />Below the supreme allied command level will be three joint<br />force commands: Naples, Italy; Brunssum, the Netherlands;<br />and Lisbon, Portugal.<br /><br />Under the Brunssum headquarters will be three component<br />commanders: the Component Commander-Air will be at<br />Ramstein; CC-Maritime at Northwood, England; and CC-Land at<br />Heidelberg, Germany.<br /><br />Under the Naples command, the CC-Air will be in Izmir,<br />Turkey; CC-Maritime in Naples; and CC-Land in Madrid,<br />Spain. The Lisbon command will be primarily maritime and<br />will add other components if needed.<br /><br />Giambastiani also heads U.S. Joint Forces Command, also<br />headquartered in Norfolk. That command leads the U.S.<br />military's push toward transformation and officials expect<br />a lot of synergy from the grouping of the NATO and U.S.<br />commands.<br /><br />Officials said Allied Command-Transformation will have a<br />significant European footprint. NATO will establish a Joint<br />Warfare Center in Stavanger, Norway. The alliance will also<br />build a Joint Force Training Center in Bydgoscz, Poland. An<br />element of the command will be located here as liaison to<br />the Allied Command-Operations.<br /><br />Officials said there are also prospects for countries to<br />develop centers of excellence in areas such as maritime<br />capabilities and chemical and biological warfare defense<br />capabilities.<br /><br />NATO officials said the change mirrors developments in the<br />U.S. military.<br /><br />U.S. officials said the changes finally configure NATO to<br />fight the war on terror and not on its old nemesis, the<br />Soviet Union.<br /><br />The NATO command structure was originally set up to provide<br />defense for Western Europe in the event of an attack by the<br />Soviet Union. Heavy infantry and armor units were the<br />formations of choice to counter a Soviet land attack. These<br />formations were based near the area they were to defend.<br /><br /> The United States, for example, had 300,000 service<br />members permanently based in Europe at the height of the<br />Cold War. Yearly, the U.S. military practiced deploying<br />heavy divisions from the United States to Europe.<br /><br />This command structure was fine as long as there was one<br />known enemy poised on the border of Western Europe,<br />officials said.<br /><br />But times changed. The Soviet Union imploded and the Warsaw<br />Pact broke up. "The NATO command arrangement survived<br />longer than the Soviet Union," quipped one NATO official.<br /><br />The emphasis is now on creating lethal and highly<br />deployable forces that can be sustained in remote areas.<br />During the Warsaw NATO meeting in 2001, Defense Secretary<br />Donald H. Rumsfeld proposed creating a NATO Reaction Force.<br />NATO leaders officially adopted the idea at the Prague<br />Summit in November 2002.<br /><br />Deployability will challenge the NATO members. Allies must<br />invest in strategic and tactical airlift capabilities, said<br />U.S. officials. Fast-sealift capabilities must also be<br />developed and acquired. American officials said they have<br />seen encouraging signs that the NATO allies are investing<br />in these capabilities.<br /><br />Allies will not need the mass armies of the past, and<br />personnel are expensive. U.S. officials said the allies can<br />finance many needed capabilities enhancements by shifting<br />funds from personnel costs.<br /><br />_______________________________________________________<br />NOTE: This is a plain text version of a web page. If your e-mail program<br />did not properly format this information, you may view the story at<br />
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