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Chapter 10: Civilian Organisation and Structures The Division of Defence Planning and Operations The Division of Defence Planning and Operations comes under the responsibility of the Assistant Secretary General for Defence Planning and Operations, who is Chairman of the Defence Review Committee (the senior defence planning body in NATO under the authority of the Defence Planning Committee) and Vice-Chairman of the Executive Working Group. He is Chairman of the Policy Coordination Group (PCG). The Division also supports the Political-Military Steering Committee on Partnership for Peace (PMSC/PfP) in the coordination and development of Partnership for Peace (PfP) activities. The Division has a Defence Policy and Force Planning Directorate, a Defence Partnership and Cooperation Directorate, a Crisis Management and Operations Directorate and a Nuclear Policy Directorate. The Division provides staff support to the Deputy Secretary General in his capacity as Chairman of the High Level Steering Group (HLSG), which oversees the implementation of the Alliance's Defence Capabilities Initiative. The Defence Policy and Force Planning Directorate consists of a Defence Policy Section and a Force Planning Section. It is responsible for defence policy issues and for most matters of a politico-military nature considered by the Council or the Policy Coordination Group, as well as for the preparation, in collaboration with national delegations, of all papers and business concerned with the Defence Review, including the analysis of national defence programmes; for other matters of a politico-military nature considered by the Defence Planning Committee; for the preparation of studies of general or particular aspects of NATO defence planning and policy on behalf of the Executive Working Group and Defence Review Committee; for supporting the PfP programme and managing the PfP Planning and Review Process (PARP); for developing the Combined Joint Task Forces (CJTF) concept; for the maintenance of a computerised data base of information on NATO forces; and for the organisation and direction of statistical studies required to assess the NATO defence effort. The Director for Defence Policy and Force Planning is the Deputy Assistant Secretary General and is also Vice-Chairman of the Defence Review Committee. The Crisis Management and Operations Directorate includes the Crisis Management Section, the Council Operations Section, and the Peacekeeping Staff. The Director of Crisis Management and Operations is also responsible on behalf of the Secretary General for the development and control of the NATO Situation Centre (SITCEN). The Crisis Management Section provides staff support to the Secretary General, the Council and Defence Planning Committee, and relevant subordinate groups on major politico-military crisis management policy issues. It is responsible for implementing, monitoring and reporting on Council decisions associated with crisis management and the preparation and conduct of NATO operations. It also has a liaison and coordination function with NATO and non-NATO nations and appropriate international organisations such as the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union, the Western European Union, the Office of the High Representative and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The Council Operations Section supports NATO crisis management by the development and improvement of procedures, organisation and facilities to support the needs of the Council and Defence Planning Committee and to facilitate consultation in periods of tension and crisis. This includes coordinating and updating NATO's two crisis management manuals, developing an annual crisis management exercise, reviewing crisis management communications requirements, supporting the development of ADP support for crisis management, and conducting activities with PfP Partners to enhance their capacity to undertake crisis management and to improve cooperation in the crisis management field. The Peacekeeping Section supports the crisis management process by providing conceptual and technical strategic planning and advice on peace support operations. The Peacekeeping Staff also support other aspects of NATO's work in the field of crisis response operations, including the development of Alliance peacekeeping policy, the development of CIMIC (Civil-Military Cooperation) policy, and support for the PJC and PMSC Ad Hoc Groups on Peacekeeping. This section also maintains close relations with other international organisations including the OSCE, UN, UNHCR and the OHR. The Situation Centre, known as the SITCEN, has three specific roles: to assist the North Atlantic Council, the Defence Planning Committee and the Military Committee in fulfilling their respective functions in the field of consultation; to serve as a focal point within the Alliance for the receipt, exchange, and dissemination of political, military, and economic intelligence and information; and to act as a link with similar facilities of member nations and of the Major NATO Commands. The situation Centre is supported by a Communication Centre or "COMCEN". The Defence Partnership and Cooperation Directorate was established in 1997. It is responsible for PfP policy and implementation. It chairs the Politico-Military Steering Committee on Partnership for Peace (PMSC) and contributes to the work of other NATO bodies on issues relating to the EAPC, military cooperation in the context of PfP, NATO-Russia and NATO-Ukraine relations and the Mediterranean Dialogue. In the context of PfP implementation, the Directorate stays in close contact with all PfP Partner countries and chairs meetings of the NATO teams established to help Partner countries to develop their Individual Partnership Programmes (IPPs). The Nuclear Policy Directorate provides staff support to the Secretary General, the Nuclear Planning Group and its senior body, the High Level Group (HLG), and to the Senior Defence Group on Proliferation. Its main functions are to assist in the development of all matters of nuclear policy and strategy, including the development of nuclear planning and procedures, exercises and training activities; and to assist in the coordination of NATO's defence-related activities in response to risks stemming from the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their associated delivery means. Part of the latter function will in future be fulfilled by the new WMD Centre, which has been established within the Division of Political Affairs. The Directorate is also responsible for the preparation of meetings of the Nuclear Planning Group at Ministerial, Permanent Representative and Staff Group levels, and for the development of public information on NATO's nuclear posture and defence-related response to proliferation risks.