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Briefing: NATO Response Force 1. Ready to react rapidly to crises worldwide Contents 1. Ready to react rapidly to crises worldwide 2. Extended reach 3. Learning by doing 4. Range of missions 5. NATO Response Force rotations 6. NATO Response Force in action 7. Expeditionary capability 8. Two principal aims: high combat-readiness and capability transformation 9. Tailored force 10. Mutual reinforcement of the NRF and an EU rapid reaction capability 11. Authorisation to deploy and transfer of authority Editorial Note   Important publisher and editorial information about this document Other Formats English PDF (~1,2Mb) Printable version with colour illustrations Order a hardcopy version using the online order form. NATO has created a permanently available, multinational joint force at very high readiness – the NATO Response Force – consisting of land, air and sea components, as well as performing various specialist functions. With around 25 000 troops, the NATO Response Force (NRF) is able to start to deploy after a political decision to do so and sustain itself for operations during 30 days and more if re-supplied. With this force, the Alliance has given itself the means to respond rapidly to various types of crises across the globe, as decided by the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s principal decision-making body. Election support in Afghanistan and humanitarian relief in Pakistan are among the missions that have already been conducted by elements of the NATO Response Force. “The NRF is the most important tool to show how NATO has transformed and is transforming” Jaap de Hoop Scheffer The NATO Response Force, which is expected to reach full operational capability by end 2006, is a key element of the transformation of NATO's force structure. It also complements two other major initiatives agreed by Heads of State and Government at the Alliance's Prague Summit in November 2002: the streamlining of the military command structure and the improvement in the military capabilities of ­member countries. This package of measures aims to gear the Alliance to respond to prevailing threats, ranging from ethnic tensions to terrorism and the use of weapons of mass destruction. As General James Jones, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) has stated, the NATO Response Force is “… an important recognition on the part of the Alliance that the international security environment has changed dramatically”. It is the way ahead and puts the spirit of the Prague Summit into practical application.

© NATO - OTAN 2006 -	NATO Public Diplomacy Division 1110 Brussels, Belgium - E-mail: natodoc@hq.nato.int