By Ann Roosevelt
NATO’s secretary general says the alliance has no plans to move Allied Command Transformation (ACT), which will stay in Norfolk, Va., even as the U.S. Defense Department plans to shutter its close partner and neighbor, U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM).
“I do believe it makes sense to have a NATO headquarters also in the United States,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the Defense Writers Group yesterday. ” I expect ACT to continue to be located in Norfolk.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ plan to close JFCOM is meeting resistance in Congress with hearings planned on the subject, and widely voiced concerns in the state.
Gates’ rationale is part of an effort to find efficiencies in DoD and apply monies saved to needed programs.
ACT is NATO’s main engine for change to improve alliance capabilities, military relevance and effectiveness. The command does so through support to NATO missions and operations. It also leads military transformation, and works to improve relations and cooperation with partners, other nations and international organizations.
NATO ACT works closely with the JFCOM in a variety of areas to include training, the Afghan Mission Network, and in other areas such as concept development and experimentation- -what changes can be made, how to make them and then, how to implement them.
NATO ACT as well as JFCOM examine future security implications of emerging trends. NATO ACT, for example, produced the report, the Multiple Futures Project, while JFCOM issued the Joint Operating Environment–visions of potential futures from each command perspective and what the implications are for military forces.
Also, NATO ACT and JFCOM work the annual Joint Warfighting Conference, and on the recent Empire Challenge, which is a train-up for equipment possibly heading to Afghanistan from the United States and allies.
Rasmussen said he’s already launched a process within NATO to seek efficiencies within the alliance and ACT.
The group of experts’ report of analysis and recommendations on a new NATO strategic concept delivered in May said that there’s a continuing need to transform alliance forces to a flexible, mobile and versatile post-Cold War posture. Additionally, with defense budgets poised to remain static or decline, the alliance must commit to smarter spending through efficiency and reforms.
The report suggests the secretary general present a balanced package of reform and efficiency proposals at the Lisbon Summit meeting of heads of state and government in Lisbon, Portugal Nov. 19-20.
Rasmussen said he is working on refining the military and administrative process and expects some decisions will be made at the Lisbon summit.
NATO is reviewing its agencies–about 14 of them today. “We can rationalize our structure,” he said.
Administrative reforms would include examining its committees, as well, also being discussed in Brussels.
Internal reform is a priority for Rasmussen and the allies have given him a mandate to act, the report said.
When NATO examines the new Strategic Concept to be unveiled in Lisbon, it could endorse a wide series of reforms–streamlining the international secretariat, reviewing financial rules, reducing headquarters operations, costs and shrinking the number of committees and agencies.