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<TITLE>CINC AFCENT General Joachim Spiering's Speech to 1998 NATO Workshop, Vienna, Austria</TITLE>
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<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="6" FACE="Palatino">Stability
and Restructuring in the Central Region</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="4" FACE="Palatino">General
Joachim Spiering, Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Central Europe</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Palatino">The Central
Region, previously NATO’s primary focus in its defense of the
sovereignty and integrity of its member-states, no longer faces a threat
just outside its borders. Today the Central Region enjoys relative
stability within NATO’s area of responsibility and beyond it as well.
Since the breakdown of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, much of
this stability can be attributed to our political and military cooperation
with our partners in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly through the
highly successful Partnership for Peace program. These initiatives
have also, <I>inter alia</I>, paved the way for NATO accession, and
resulted in the current accession of the three invited countries. </FONT>
</P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Palatino"><B>THE
CENTRAL REGION AS "TURNTABLE" AND FORCE PROVIDER</B></FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Palatino">Although
there is no direct military threat to the Central Region currently, our
primary mission is to remain prepared and able to defend it, and the
capability to achieve this remains the prerequisite for all our other
tasks. This capability will be maintained by a credible arsenal of
defense resources. However, the Central Region has changed from
being a receiver of forces and resources to a provider of them—in
essence it has become the Alliance’s “strategic turntable.”
The Central Region now houses a ready pool of assets with which it
can reinforce other NATO regions or contribute to peace-support operations
beyond NATO’s area of responsibility. We are, without doubt,
the principal force provider in NATO regarding land and air forces. The
SFOR mission is a case in point—60 percent of those forces have come
from Central Region sources. In addition, almost all of the major
ground force formations, at least down to corps level, are multinational,
giving us the opportunity to develop multinational expertise and
procedures. Sustaining these forces throughout the spectrum of
missions are the Central Region’s operating and support-base
infrastructure and the command and control assets necessary to direct
operations within the Region and beyond. </FONT> </P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Palatino"><B>PREPARING
FOR FUTURE TASKS</B></FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Palatino">How are we
preparing for the tasks of the future? To meet its new roles and
missions, NATO has adapted its C2 structures, resulting in the new NATO
command structure and the Combined Joint Task Force concept. The
Central Region has been a pioneer in implementing the CJTF HQ concept; we
were the first to trial the CJTF HQ and have been nominated as one of
three “parent” CJTF HQs providing the Alliance with an initial
capability that includes a deployable nucleus of personnel and equipment
around which the balance of a CJTF headquarters and CJTF force can be
built. We will continue our work on this important project in order
to reach full capability, which includes a mobile and modular mix of
communications and computer technology designed to optimize flexibility in
future operations. </FONT> </P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Palatino"><B>THE
NEW REGIONAL COMMAND NORTH</B></FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Palatino">I am sure
you are all well aware of the decision regarding the new NATO command
structure. Preparations to implement Regional Command NORTH are the
current primary focus of both the headquarters staff within the Central
Region and the staffs at Headquarters AFNORTHWEST and its principal
subordinate commands. These preparations include disbanding HQ
AFCENT and HQ AFNORTHWEST and setting up an entirely new HQ at Brunssum.
The CJTF concept, NATO accession, and an enhanced PFP program all
will have a direct or an indirect impact on virtually every aspect of the
implementation, and all are important parts of the overall plan. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Palatino">In terms of
geography, Regional Command NORTH will have an Area of Operational
Responsibility four times the size of that currently allocated to the
Central Region. Of greater significance is its new maritime
responsibility, which will include the maritime littoral of Norway and the
United Kingdom, as well as the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, making it a
truly joint headquarters at the operational level. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Palatino">In terms of
stability, the new Area of Operational Responsibility will bring new
challenges. Regional Command NORTH will continue to contribute to
the enhancement of stability together with our PFP Partners in
Northeastern and Eastern Europe, particularly in the Baltic Region. It
will also remain—for the foreseeable future—the Alliance’s
turntable and force provider with headquarters and forces available to
take on a full range of missions within and beyond its own region. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="spiering98.htm">Go to Top of Page</A></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="workshop98.htm">Return to Vienna '98</A></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><A HREF="../index.html">Return to Home Page</A></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT">Copyright © 1998 Center for Strategic Decision
Research</P>
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