Opinion leaders tour NATO’s Allied Command Transformation
From 31 May to 3 June, NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (ACT) welcomed a group of 13 opinion leader from NATO countries to discuss the Alliance’s military transformation in the context of a new Strategic Concept. At the strategic command level, ACT is leading the transformation of NATO’s military structure, forces, capabilities and doctrine.
The programme began with a working dinner in Brussels hosted by Stefanie Babst, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Strategy, to discuss views in Brussels about transformation. She was accompanied by experts on military transformation from NATO Headquarters and Rear Admiral Jørgen Berggrav, the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation’s (SACT) Representative in Europe.
NATO’s military transformation “is not a theoretical requirement”, said Dr Babst, acknowledging that with resources stretched thin across the Alliance, modernizing capabilities is a tough job. “Yet there is no alternative. For NATO to be able to perform its core function efficiently, we need to have a flexible, deployable, networked and sustainable military force posture in place.”
“ACT plays a key role in all of this. I am certain that the new Strategic Concept will request ACT to continue championing the development of transformational capabilities and doctrine, training and education programmes,” she said.
The following day, the participants attended a full-day programme at ACT in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, which included a meeting with SACT, General Stéphane Abrial, and discussions on military capabilities.
United States Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) and JFCOM Commander General James N. Mattis provided an American perspective on NATO's transformation. Finally, the group met with US experts on NATO and transatlantic issues at meetings in Washington.
These Washington meetings offered an opportunity to discuss the Group of Experts' report on NATO’s new Strategic Concept, in particular with Stephen Flanagan, aide to the Chair of the Group of Experts, Madeleine K. Albright.
The 13 members of the visiting group represented think tanks and academia from Albania, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Turkey and the United Kingdom.