New NATO transformation command established

In a ceremony held on 19 June in Norfolk, US, NATO’s former Allied Command Atlantic was decommissioned and Allied Command Transformation established in its place.

The change marks one of the most significant milestones in the process of implementing the new NATO command structure, approved by Defence Ministers at their Brussels meeting, 12 and 13 June. The new command structure will be leaner, more flexible, more efficient, and better able to conduct the full range of military missions.

The ceremony also marked the assumption of command of NATO’s first Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, Admiral Edmund Giambastiani.

The role of Allied Command Transformation (ACT) will be to promote transformation and interoperability of Alliance militaries in order to ensure NATO's forces are trained and structured to meet the challenges of the new security environment.

To enhance the transatlantic link and to facilitate close interaction between US transformation efforts and those of other Alliance members, ACT will be co-located with United States Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

“ACT will shape the future of combined and joint operations. It will identify new concepts, and bring them to maturity. It will then turn these transformational concepts into reality; a reality shared by the entire NATO Alliance,” said NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson at the ceremony.

A slimmer and modernised structure is a fundamental part of the transformation agenda of the Alliance, as agreed by the Heads of State and Government at the 2002 Summit in Prague.

Lord Robertson and the 19 Permanent Representatives of NATO member countries travelled to Norfolk to take part in the ceremony and the ACT Seminar 2003 “Building on Capabilities and Steering Change”.