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One of NATO's immediate reaction forces, the Standing Naval Force Atlantic, arrives today at Naval base Zeebrugge, Belgium.
SNFL is an integrant part of the military structure of NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington on the 4th April 1949, created an alliance of 12 independent nations committed to each other's defence. Four more European nations later acceded to the Treaty between 1952 and 1982. On the 12th March 1999, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were welcomed into the Alliance, which now numbers 19 members.
The North Atlantic Treaty has continued to guarantee the security of its member countries. Today, following the end of the Cold War and of the division of Europe, the Alliance has been restructured to enable it to contribute more effectively to the development of cooperative security structures for the whole of Europe. It has also transformed its political and military structures in order to adapt them to peacekeeping and crisis management tasks undertaken in cooperation with countries, which are not members of the Alliance, and with other international organisations.
This force embodied with this mission has sailed the last months in the northern part of Europe exercising together with ships, submarines and aircrafts from different Nations.
After a port visit to El Ferrol, Spain, the force sailed north towards the southern part of Great Britain, we have been exercising the force together with the British forces on an intensive programme.
A combination of exercises with submarines, aircrafts and surface forces, along with surface and anti-air firings made part of our daily routine practice programme.
Also superimposed with this programme the ships worked internally an intensive training schedule aimed at internal firefighting skills, small arms firings and ships protection measures.
All this exercises are aimed at maintaining the high skills necessary to an Immediate Reaction Force.
The force schedule has been adapted, and is ready to be deployed to Eastern Mediterranean in order to demonstrate NATO's resolve in the campaign against the terrorism.
The force arriving today at Zeebrugge, will participate in briefings and meetings aimed at the preparations of future exercises and operations. This period will also be used to execute maintenance routines on systems and equipments.
The crews will take the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of local people, and visiting the surrounding areas.
We will depart on Monday 22nd of October, transiting south.
Since the 30th of March the force commander has been Commodore Fernando Melo Gomes, Portuguese Navy, who is embarked along with his staff onboard the flagship N.R.P. "Corte Real".
Up to ten ships (destroyers, frigates, submarines and tankers) are normally attached to the force for up to six month, and force command rotates on an annual basis among the nations contributing ships to STANAVFORLANT.
Flying the Nato flag continuously over 32 years, some 155,000 men and women have served aboard 600 STANAVFORLANT ships. Each year the force steams more than 50,000 miles, participating in a series of scheduled NATO and national exercises and making goodwill visits such as this one. SNFL is the world's first peacetime Multinational Naval Force. Throughout is life, SNFL has shown the inherent value of a permanent naval force, operating freely in international waters and available for a variety of missions at very short notice. Such force, by their nature, is an indispensable part of crisis response in a changing security environment.
Currently the force visiting Zeebrugge is composed of:
- N.R.P. Corte Real - Portugal (flagship)
- HMS Exeter - United Kingdom
- USS Samuel E. Morison - United States of America
- HNLMS Jacob Van Heemskerk - Netherlands
- SPS Extremadura - Spain
- FGS Karlsrhue - Germany
- HNOMS Narvi - Norway
- BNS Westdiep - Belgium
- SPS Patino - Spain
In total 1800 men and women serve onboard these 9 ships.