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NATO COMMAND STRUCTURE
The United Kingdom is a member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation) and the majority of military operations are conducted in
concert with the forces of NATO allies.
In
1993, NATO was reorganised from three into two major Commands with a
further re-organisation of these two commands in 2003. The first is ACT
(Allied Command Transformation) with headquarters at Norfolk, Virginia
(USA) and the second is ACO (Allied Command Operations), with its
headquarters at Mons in Belgium.
NATO Operations in which the United Kingdom was a participant would
almost certainly be as part of a NATO force under the command and control
of Allied Command Operations (ACO).
The current Supreme Allied
Commander Europe (SACEUR) is Admiral Stavridis. SACEUR, (a US officer) is
responsible for the overall command of NATO military operations and
conducts the necessary military operational planning, including the
identification of forces required for the mission and requesting these
forces from NATO countries, as authorised by the North Atlantic Council
and as directed by NATO's Military Committee.
The following nations are
members of the NATO Alliance.
Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.
SACEUR – Admiral James Stavridis
Admiral Stavridis is a 1976 graduate of the US Naval Academy and a native
of South Florida.
A Surface Warfare Officer, Admiral Stavridis commanded the Destroyer USS
Barry from 1993-1995, completing deployments to Haiti, Bosnia, and the
Arabian Gulf. USS Barry won the Battenberg Cup as the top ship in the
Atlantic Fleet under his command.
In 1998, he commanded Destroyer Squadron 21 and deployed to the Arabian
Gulf, winning the Navy League's John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational
Leadership. From 2002-2004, Admiral Stavridis commanded Enterprise Carrier
Strike Group, conducting combat operations in the Arabian Gulf in support
of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Ashore, the Admiral has served as a strategic and long range planner on
the staffs of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff. At the start of the Global War on Terror (GWOT), he was
selected as the Director of the US Navy Operations Group, DEEP BLUE. He
has also served as the Executive Assistant to the Secretary of the US Navy
and the Senior Military Assistant to the US Secretary of Defense. Admiral
James Stavridis assumed command of the US Southern Command on October 19,
2006.
Admiral Stavridis earned a PhD and MALD from The Fletcher School of Law
and Diplomacy at Tufts University in International Relations in 1984,
where he won the Gullion Prize as the outstanding student. He is also a
graduate of both the US Naval and US National War Colleges.
He holds various decorations and awards, including the Defense
Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal and five
awards of the Legion of Merit. He is author or co-author of several books
on naval shiphandling and leadership, including Command at Sea and
Destroyer Captain.
In mid-2009 Admiral Stavridis was appointed as the Supreme Commander
Allied Powers Europe.
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