NATO country leaders meet to hone response to future threats

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany High-level NATO leaders met this week at Ramstein to consider the future of the alliances ground forces in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine and events in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization-LANDCOM Corps Commanders Conference drew more than 140 participants from nearly every country in the 28-member alliance, including NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove.

He and Army Lt. Gen. John Nicholson Jr., the commander of NATO Allied Land Command, spoke of the broader security environment facing NATO post-Afghanistan and the challenges ground forces, in particular, must address to hone and ready a land component that could respond to an international crisis at a moments notice.

We are adapting to some of the most significant changes to the security environment here in Europe since the Cold War, Breedlove said, and I am pleased to say that NATO is adapting as rapidly as its 21st Century challenges are also evolving.

Breedlove said NATOs land forces headquarters established in 2012 at Izmir, Turkey, to ensure the interoperability of NATO ground forces is focused on matching our readiness to the environment and working with nations on contingency planning in support of NATOs readiness action force, as outlined at the pivotal NATO Wales Summit last fall. Interoperability has been a constant, if elusive, goal for the alliance since the early 1950s.

This is significant, as this planning will reduce the go-to show time needed between alerting forces and getting them to the right place at the right time, Breedlove said.

At the Wales summit in September, allied leaders approved a response plan that addresses challenges posed by Russia and threats emanating from the Middle East and North Africa.

Neither Nicholson nor Breedlove mentioned Ukraine or Russia on Tuesday. But in speaking about collective defense, Nicholson mentioned the threat of so-called hybrid warfare, which NATO officials have accused Russia of employing in Ukraine, unnerving NATOs eastern members.

NATOs land forces would be one element of any collective defense measure, including if Article 5 were invoked. Article 5 is the cornerstone of the military alliance, which commits each member to consider an armed attack against one member state to be an armed attack against them all.

Nicholson said his command is focused on our own ability to respond to the political guidance that we receive.

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NATO country leaders meet to hone response to future threats