The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee commends Portugal for its contributions to NATO
The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach visited Portugal from 1 to 4 November 2018. The trip included visits to NATO Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre, the Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, the Joint Command for Military Operations as well as meetings with the Portuguese Minister of Defence, HE João Gomes Cravinho and the Chief of Defence, Admiral António Silva Ribeiro.
Upon his arrival in Lisbon, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach was escorted by Admiral António Silva Ribeiro, Portuguese Chief of Defence to the famous Torre de Belém for a short military ceremony with the traditional inspection of the troops.
The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee then headed to the Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO), NATO’s premier Maritime Battle-staff and the Alliance’s primary link for integrating U.S. Maritime Forces into NATO operations. Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach highlighted that “for the last 65 years STRIKFORNATO has stood ready to use its maritime capabilities to provide assurance, deterrence and collective defence”.
The meeting with HE João Gomes Cravinho, Portuguese Minister of Defence was an opportunity for Air Chief Marshal Peach to discuss NATO’s Maritime Posture, the ongoing NATO Command Structure Adaptation and commend Portugal for being a staunch Ally. “Portugal actively contributes to all of NATO’s domains. On land, your troops serve with NATO's multinational brigade in Romania. In the air, your jets have kept the skies secure over the Black Sea region. At sea, your ships have strengthened NATO's maritime forces. And in cyberspace, NATO's state of the art cyber academy is being built right here in Portugal”, emphasized the Chairman.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach also visited the NATO Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC) which is responsible for analyzing NATO’s operations, training, exercises and activities, and identifying areas of improvement. The Chairman thanked the JALLC for its exemplary work, “NATO cannot adapt effectively without the valuable work that JALLC does. For example, our defence spending metrics are based on proposals made by this centre. They are a key tool for NATO”.
The Chairman concluded his trip to Portugal by attending the Military Ceremony organized to commemorate the Centenary of the end of the First World War. More than 4500 troops, from each branch of the Armed Forces, the Republican Guard and the Police, marched on the “Avenida da Liberdade” (Freedom Avenue) to honour the sacrifices made by so many. French, German, Amercian and British troops were also present for the parade.