NATO’s highest military body meets to progress Alliance priorities
Top military officials from 54 countries gathered at NATO's Headquarters in Brussels on 9-10 May to discuss ongoing operations, and the means to improve how member and Partner country armed forces work together.
These formal meetings of the NATO Military Committee at the level of Chiefs of Defence Staff – together with their counterparts from Russia, Ukraine, Mediterranean Dialogue countries and Euro-Atlantic Partner countries – take place twice a year. They provide a forum for intensive discussions that form the basis of NATO’s military advice to the Alliance’s civilian decision-making bodies.
“These exchanges with the Chiefs of Defence are crucial to NATO’s ability to continue meeting the current and future challenges of global security and the fight against terrorism,” said General Ray Henault, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.
The discussions among NATO Chiefs of Defence focused on operations in Afghanistan and dealing with the challenges of expanding to the southern region of the country later this summer. The consensus was that the overall effort was progressing well and on schedule, with sufficient forces and robust rules of engagement in place to set the conditions of continued operational success.
Another topic for broad discussion was the NATO Response Force (NRF), and how to resolve remaining resource challenges. Offers from countries during the meeting will give impetus to the effort to be able to declare the NRF “fully operational capable” by the October 2006 deadline.
Separate NATO-Ukraine and NATO-Russia meetings provided an opportunity to build on the individual work plans for military cooperation that were approved at the previous meetings last November. It was agreed by all parties that NATO’s military to military cooperation with both of these strategic partners was progressing well towards more intensified practical cooperation in the future.
The Euro-Atlantic Partnership meeting discussed ways to improve interoperability through enhanced NATO training and exercises. Operations were also discussed and a proposal by NATO’s Military Committee to invite troop-contributing nations to future Military Committee meetings on ISAF and KFOR was widely seen as a means to strengthen the operational relationship between NATO and those partners who are, or who plan to contribute to NATO operations.
“Over the past two days NATO and partner Chiefs of Defence expressed their frank views on operations and Alliance priorities giving the Military Committee the means and the consensus to best advise the political leadership of NATO,” added General Henault.