Chairman of the NATO Military Committee delivers keynote address at LANDCOM Conference
General Pavel joined NATO’s Commanders at the Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) Corps Commanders’ Conference on the 6th of October 2015, at the Rapid Reaction Corps France in Lille.
High-level NATO leaders met this week to consider the future of the Alliance’s ground forces in an ever-changing security environment. The Conference’s overarching theme “Road to Warsaw: RAP and NATO’s Southern Strategic Direction” reflected the recent turmoil around NATO’s southern flank, the Alliance’s response to these new challenges and the implementation of the Readiness Action Plan (RAP).
Following an introduction by Lieutenant General John Nicholson, Commander of Allied Land Command (LANDCOM), General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee delivered a comprehensive briefing on the Alliance’s strategic posture – underlining the progress of RAP – and its response to new challenges, such as Hybrid Warfare and terrorism.
General Pavel highlighted LANDCOM’s central role within the RAP: “LANDCOM directly contributes to the Alliance’s continued Readiness, Relevance and Responsiveness by enhancing the NATO Land Forces’ interoperability. This is achieved by organizing, training and standardizing the Allied Land Forces to counter conventional, strategic and transnational threats while maintaining regional security and stability”.
The Chairman also took this opportunity to commend LANDCOM for its active contribution to Exercise TRIDENT JUNCTURE 2015 which will advance the Alliance’s Readiness and showcase NATO’s capabilities in the air, on land and at sea with over 36,000 personnel from more than 30 Allied and Partner Nations and multiple locations including Italy, Portugal and Spain.
The NATO Commanders also took this opportunity to discuss the lessons learned from EXERCISE NOBLE JUMP (9 to 19 June 2015) and to highlight the importance of the Alliance’s collective training.