Four New Multinational, Rapidly Deployable Headquarters Assigned To NATO

SHAPE Headquarters, Casteau -- Four new land-based, rapidly deployable headquarters capable of commanding forces of up to 60,000 personnel on operations were today designated as NATO international military headquarters. This brings to five the number of Corps-sized headquarters that are placed under the operational command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) in peacetime.

"These additional deployable, tailored higher readiness headquarters are a significant new asset for NATO," said Gen. Joseph Ralston, the SACEUR. "European nations collectively have invested more than one billion euros to develop these capabilities. The fact that nations are prepared to put them under NATO command is a key element of our reform effort to develop more relevant structures and capabilities for the Alliance."

The HQs newly assigned to NATO are the Rapid Deployable German/Netherlands Corps HQ (based on the 1st German-Netherlands Corps in Münster, Germany); the Rapid Deployable Italian Corps (based on the Italian Rapid Reaction Corps in Milan, Italy); the Rapid Deployable Spanish Corps HQ (based on the Spanish Corps in Valencia, Spain); and the Rapid Deployable Turkish Corps HQ (based on the 3rd Turkish Corps in Istanbul, Turkey). The fifth Corps-sized formation, the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) in Rheindahlen, Germany, is already designated a NATO international military headquarters with a special reporting relationship to the SACEUR. A sixth Corps-sized headquarters, based in Strasbourg, France, (the Eurocorps), has signed a technical agreement with NATO and could also be committed under NATO command.

Agreements that detail command and control arrangements, and administrative issues such as cost sharing and manning were signed here today at NATO's senior European-based military headquarters. The SHAPE Chief of Staff, Admiral Sir Ian Garnett, presided over a ceremony that included commanders of the Corps headquarters newly assigned to NATO, and military representatives from the various nations providing personnel to the newly designated units, among others.

Each Corps headquarters is built from the personnel, equipment and financial resources principally from one "framework" nation (or two nations, in the case of the Rapid Deployable German/Netherlands Corps HQ, and five nations [Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain] in the case of the Eurocorps). All are open to personnel contributions from any of the other NATO nations, who now do or will provide personnel to the four new headquarters, and the two subsequent Graduated Readiness Forces Headquarters (ARRC and Eurocorps).