NATO Military Committee

NATO Military Committee
Location Brussels, Belgium
Website NATO.int
Commanders
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Chair Lieutenant Admiral Rob Bauer
Deputy Chair Vacant
Director General of the International Military Staff Lieutenant General Janusz Adamczak
Insignia
Chair's arms
Deputy Chair's arms
International Military Staff's arms
International Military Staff's flag

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Military Committee (NATO MC) is the body of NATO that is composed of member states' Chiefs of Defence (CHOD). These national CHODs are regularly represented in the MC by their permanent Military Representatives (MilRep), who often are two- or three-star flag officers. Like the Council, from time to time the Military Committee also meets at a higher level, namely at the level of Chiefs of Defence, the most senior military officer in each nation's armed forces.

Role

Chairman in 2014, General Knud Bartels

The MC assists and advises the North Atlantic Council (NAC), Defence Planning Committee, and Nuclear Planning Group on military matters including policy and strategy. Its principal role is to provide direction and advice on military policy and strategy. It provides guidance on military matters to the NATO Strategic Commanders, whose representatives attend its meetings, and is responsible for the overall conduct of the military affairs of the Alliance under the authority of the Council. The executive body of the MC is the International Military Staff (IMS). An overview of the NATO Military Command Structure (NCS):

Liaison:        Provides advice and support to the NAC
Political strategic level:
North Atlantic Council
Secretary General of NATO
Brussels, BE 		International Staff
Brussels, BE
Military strategic level:


Chair of the NATO Military Committee

International Military Staff
NATO HQ, Brussels, BE
Strategic commands:


SACEUR
(ACO, SHAPE)
Mons, BE

SACT
(Allied Command Transformation, HQ SACT)
Norfolk, US
Tactical commands: Transformational commands:
Allied Air Command Allied Air Command
Ramstein, DE 		Joint Warfare Centre Joint Warfare Centre
Stavanger, NO
Allied Maritime Command Allied Maritime Command
Northwood, GB 		Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre
Lisbon, PT
Allied Land Command Allied Land Command
İzmir, TR 		Joint Force Training Centre Joint Force Training Centre
Bydgoszcz, PL
Misc.:
Joint Support and Enabling Command Ulm, DE
Operational commands: NATO Communication and Information Systems Group Communications & Information Systems Group Mons, BE Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO
Oeiras, PT
Joint Force Command Norfolk
Norfolk, US 		Allied Joint Force Command Naples Allied Joint Force Command Naples
Naples, IT 		Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum
Brunssum, NL
Response Force: Multinational Corps Southeast
Sibiu, RO 		Multinational Corps Northeast
Szczecin, PL


Current NATO Chiefs of Defence

Member CHOD Member CHOD Member CHOD


Chief of the General Staff of
Albania

Member since
1 April 2009
Major General
Arben Kingji
of the
Albanian Land Force

Chief of Defence of
Belgium

Member since
24 August 1949
Admiral
Michel Hofman
of the
Belgian Navy

Chief of Defence of
Bulgaria

Member since
29 March 2004
Admiral
Emil Eftimov
of the
Bulgarian Navy


Chief of the Defence Staff of
Canada

Member since
24 August 1949
General
Wayne Eyre
of the
Canadian Army

Chief of the General Staff of
Croatia

Member since
1 April 2009
Admiral
Robert Hranj
of the
Croatian Navy

Chief of the General Staff of the
Czech Republic

Member since
12 March 1999
Lieutenant General
Karel Řehka
of the
Czech Special Forces


Chief of Defence of
Denmark

Member since
24 August 1949
General
Flemming Lentfer
of the
Royal Danish Air Force

Commander of the Defence Forces of
Estonia

Member since
29 March 2004
General
Martin Herem
of the
Estonian Land Forces

Chief of Defence of
Finland

Member since
4 April 2023
General
Timo Kivinen
of the
Finnish Army


Chief of the Defence Staff of
France

Member since
24 August 1949
General
Thierry Burkhard
of the
French Army

Inspector General of the Bundeswehr of
Germany

Member since
6 May 1955
General
Carsten Breuer
of the
German Army

Chief of the General Staff of
Greece

Member since
18 February 1952
General
Konstantinos Floros
of the
Hellenic Army


Chief of the General Staff of
Hungary

Member since
12 March 1999
Colonel General
Gábor Böröndi
of the
Hungarian Ground Forces

Director of the Security and Defence Department of
Iceland

Member since
24 August 1949

Jónas G. Allansson

Chief of the Defence Staff of
Italy

Member since
24 August 1949
Admiral
Giuseppe Cavo Dragone
of the
Italian Navy


Commander of the Armed Forces of
Latvia

Member since
29 March 2004
Lieutenant General
Leonīds Kalniņš
of the
Latvian National Guard

Chief of Defence of
Lithuania

Member since
29 March 2004
General
Valdemaras Rupšys
of the
Lithuanian Land Force

Chief of Defence of
Luxembourg

Member since
24 August 1949
General
Steve Thull
of the
Luxembourg Army


Chief of the General Staff of
Montenegro

Member since
5 June 2017
Brigadier General
Milutin Đurović
of the
Montenegrin Ground Army

Chief of Defence of the
Netherlands

Member since
24 August 1949
General
Onno Eichelsheim
of the
Royal Netherlands Air Force

Chief of the General Staff of
North Macedonia

Member since
27 March 2020
Major General
Vasko Gjurchinovski
of the
North Macedonian Special Forces


Chief of Defence of
Norway

Member since
24 August 1949
General
Eirik Kristoffersen
of the
Norwegian Army

Chief of the General Staff of
Poland

Member since
12 March 1999
General
Wiesław Kukuła
of the
Polish Territorial Defence Forces

Chief of the General Staff of
Portugal

Member since
24 August 1949
General
José Nunes da Fonseca
of the
Portuguese Army


Chief of the General Staff of
Romania

Member since
29 March 2004
General
Gheorghiță Vlad
of the
Romanian Land Forces

Chief of the General Staff of
Slovakia

Member since
29 March 2004
Lieutenant General
Daniel Zmeko
of the
Slovak Ground Forces

Chief of the General Staff of
Slovenia

Member since
29 March 2004
Major General
Robert Glavaš
of the
Slovenian Ground Force


Chief of the Defence Staff of
Spain

Member since
30 May 1982
Admiral General
Teodoro Esteban López Calderón
of the
Spanish Navy

Chief of the General Staff of
Turkey

Member since
18 February 1952
General
Metin Gürak
of the
Turkish Land Forces

Chief of the Defence Staff of the
United Kingdom

Member since
24 August 1949
Admiral
Tony Radakin
of the
Royal Navy


Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the
United States

Member since
24 August 1949
General
Charles Q. Brown Jr.
of the
United States Air Force
  1. Excluded from the Committee in 1966–2008.
  2. As West Germany. East Germany became part of NATO after German reunification on 3 October 1990

History

Until 2008 the Military Committee excluded France, due to that country's 1966 decision to remove itself from NATO's integrated military structure, which it rejoined in 1995. Until France rejoined NATO, it was not represented on the Defence Planning Committee, and this led to conflicts between it and NATO members. Such was the case in the lead up to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Established in 1949 during the first Council session in Washington, the Military Committee is NATO's highest military authority and advises the NAC and NATO's strategic commanders, the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

See also