|
NATO Response Force (NRF)
COMPOSITION OF THE FORCE (as of 01 Jan 2008)
Force Commander
| FS
Tonnerre (Flagship)
|
L
9014 |
|
|
The NATO Response Force – NRF
"The NATO Response Force is a
ready, agile and flexible force crucial to the health and success of our
alliance in the coming years. As a key element of our NATO military culture, the
NRF can enable the alliance to better meet threats to security and stability in
the 21st century." ~ General John
Craddock, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).
Its characteristics
High readiness, deployability, sustainability and
jointness, i.e., composed of land, maritime and air elements, are the main
characteristics of this force created to conduct operations when and where
necessary, as decided by the North Atlantic Council.
Its missions
The NRF’s main missions are those requiring the
ability to react with the most capable forces in a very short time.
The missions of the NRF will mirror primarily the
requirements of rapid response in the initial phase of a crisis situation
deployed as a stand-alone force for crisis response.
How is the NRF formed?
Member nations commit forces to the NRF on a
rotational basis so t hey can go through a process of training and
certification, followed by an operational stand-by period of six months. In this
way, the permanent existence of a combat-ready deployable NRF is guaranteed.
Its activation
When the decision to deploy is taken, member nations
must transfer the authority for their committed forces to SACEUR, in order for
the NRF to start its deployment within five days. Its components are to be
tailored for the required mission and be capable of sustaining themselves
without external support for one month.
NRF milestones
It was at the Prague Summit in November 2002 when
member nations made specific commitments to improve the military capabilities of
the Alliance in order to find a balance between addressing its traditional
missions centred in Europe and tackling new global threats. Among these
commitments was the creation of the NATO Response Force.
The first prototype of the force was inaugurated
barely a year after the announcement of its launching and it reached the initial
operational capability with approximately 17,000 troops in 2004. NATO Response
Force passes its last test after the successful conduct of exercise Steadfast
Jaguar 06, in the Cape Verde Islands in June 2006. At NATO's November 2006 Riga
Summit, the Force was declared to be at full operational capability with up to
25,000 troops.
The NRF, a catalyst for
improvements
From its initial steps, the NRF has been acting
as the engine for transforming NATO into a much stronger and more effective
military organization. The NRF, as a key element of NATO’s military culture,
will enable the Alliance to meet the threats to security and stability in the
new world order.
How did it evolve?
The launching of the NATO Response Force
initiative was announced at the Prague Summit in November 2002
|
