Special Operations Forces
NATO Special Operations Forces (SOF) provide capabilities that complement those of NATO air, maritime and land forces and are relevant across the full range of military operations. These SOF capabilities are also applicable to the Alliance’s core tasks of collective defence, crisis management and cooperative security. The NATO Special Operations Headquarters (NSHQ) is the primary point of development, coordination and direction for all NATO Special Operations activities.
Lithuanian Special Forces
Located at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium and under the daily direct operational command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), the NSHQ focuses on ensuring Allied Joint1 SOF personnel possess a multinational foundation to allow them to operate as effectively, efficiently and coherently as possible in support of the Alliance’s objectives from the strategic to the tactical level. Twenty-six NATO member countries and three partners (Austria, Finland and Sweden) are represented among 200 plus headquarters staff.
The NSHQ is a unique hybrid organisation. It is involved in a very diverse set of activities such as NATO SOF policy, doctrine, capabilities, standards, training and education. On a daily basis the NSHQ is actively coordinating, advocating and advising reference SOF across NATO. These activities include areas such as SOF-specific intelligence, aviation, medical support and communications.
The NSHQ also supports SOF involvement in NATO operations. This includes assisting with SOF force generation, integration into strategic and operational planning, and SOF-specific intelligence analysis. There is a Special Operations Component Command element responsible for command and control of SOF within the NATO Response Force (NRF). This element is provided on a rotational basis by a handful of countries which possess the requisite SOF capacity and capability. Enhancing SOF command and control mechanisms is also an area where the NSHQ works diligently to better integrate SOF into NATO exercises from their initial inception and design all the way through gathering of lessons learned.
The NSHQ provides an additional deployable NATO SOF command and control option to complement other existing mechanisms provided by NATO member countries for the NRF. At the Wales Summit in September 2014, Allies declared the NSHQ’s Special Operations Component Command – Core element at full operational capability. This is a scalable expeditionary NATO SOF command and control capability under the daily command of SACEUR that is agile, responsive and capable of deploying to support NATO operations on very short notice. The NSHQ is also a pillar of the CFI, which aims to ensure that Allies and partners retain the progress made in terms of interoperability and collaboration from their experience working together during multinational deployments, such as in Afghanistan, Libya, the Horn of Africa and the Balkans.
The NSHQ also supports SOF involvement in NATO operations. This includes assisting with SOF force generation, integration into strategic and operational planning, and SOF-specific intelligence analysis. There is a Special Operations Component Command element responsible for command and control of SOF within the NATO Response Force (NRF). This element is provided on a rotational basis by a handful of countries which possess the requisite SOF capacity and capability. Enhancing SOF command and control mechanisms is also an area where the NSHQ works diligently to better integrate SOF into NATO exercises from their initial inception and design all the way through gathering of lessons learned.
1. ‘Joint’ refers to activities, operations and organisations in which elements of at least two services participate (land, air, maritime, SOF).-
Connecting forces
The NSHQ plays a vital part in connecting forces – planning and coordinating missions, and improving cooperation and connectivity between the countries’ SOF personnel. The raison d’être for the NSHQ is the need to better connect SOF personnel from NATO Allies so as to enable their coherent deployment on NATO operations.
The SOF network is underpinned by a sophisticated technological network and associated tools that enable real-time collaboration from the strategic to the tactical level. These ingredients collectively allow NATO SOF personnel to operate with confidence in today’s complex and uncertain operational security environment.
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Training and education
Training and education is the main effort at the NSHQ because these efforts create the long-term effect of building a coherent framework for NATO SOF.
NSHQ training largely takes place at the purpose-built NATO SOF School on nearby Chièvres Air Base, where the students are exposed to a wide array of subjects, common doctrine and current NATO processes. These tools enable NATO SOF personnel from multiple countries to seamlessly come together on operations and in exercises employing common methods.
While most of the SOF relationships are formed in the field or during training, the NSHQ also uses advanced communications connectivity such as secure video teleconferencing to complement face to face interaction and bring together personnel from all areas of operations for conferences, workshops and exchanges of views on a daily basis.
While the origins of the NSHQ stem from the NATO SOF Transformation Initiative announced at the 2006 Riga Summit, the NSHQ has only really been on the scene since March 2010. In that short time, the NSHQ and its precursor organisation, the NATO SOF Coordination Centre, have made immense, rapid strides in bringing SOF capabilities to the fore in the Alliance.