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| Updated: 10-Jan-2003 | January 2003 |
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Operational testing
The Alliance is currently in the process of reforming its force structure to meet the security threats of the 21st century. Under the new concept, NATO forces should be able to rapidly deploy to crisis areas and remain sustainable, be it within or outside NATO member countries. An important aspect of this process is creating rapidly deployable command elements, which can be quickly dispatched to lead troops sent to a crisis area.
The Italian Corps HQ in Milan was the last of six land-based, corps-size headquarters, which in 2002 underwent an intense NATO certification programme to qualify as NATO rapidly deployable headquarters. Each headquarters had to demonstrate its capabilities in 50 areas, both in the barracks and in the field. These included operations, planning, logistics, administration and command and control, with an emphasis on deployability, mobility, communications, readiness and interoperability. All six headquarters have now completed the operational evaluation programme. This marks an important milestone in the implementation of NATO’s new force structure, only 18 months after the Alliance agreed on the restructuring of its forces. The other five rapidly deployable corps headquarters that completed the evaluation programme are:
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