Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach assumes his position as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
The Chairman of the Military Committee is the senior military advisor to the Secretary General, and the conduit through which advice from NATO’s Chiefs of Defence is presented to the political body of NATO, the North Atlantic Council.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, said:
I am proud to be joining NATO at such an important time in the history of the Alliance. NATO has delivered collective defence, maintained security and upheld the shared values of our 29 partners for almost seventy years. As Chairman of the Military Committee I will provide military advice to the North Atlantic Council and ensure that NATO continues to adapt and strengthen our defences against the ever evolving threats to our security.
I would like to thank General Pavel for his leadership in steering the Military Committee through the last three years. I look forward to continuing the process of modernisation, increasing readiness and reviewing our Command Structure. Through this work we will ensure that NATO is credible on a global stage and remind those who would do us harm that while we have the most powerful and best equipped alliance in history, our strength is our unity.
The Military Committee (MC) has existed since 1949, but the format has evolved. From 1949 to 1963, the MC met in the Chiefs-of-Staff Session; from 1958 to 1961 in Permanent Session; since 1963, the MC meets twice a year at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, at the level of Chiefs of Defence, and once a year in an Allied member country.
The position of Chairman of the Military Committee has been held so far by 19 officers (counting from 1963) from the following Nations: Germany (five times); the United Kingdom (four times); Canada, Italy and Norway (twice); Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark and the Netherlands (once).