NATO plans to create a new quick-reaction force by the fall of 2015.
“Think about Ukraine. Think about ISIL. Our president spent months trying to build a coalition. We’ve learned that politically, as well as operationally, it makes more sense to do that. You just get so much more capability,” said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Frederick Hodges, who relinquished command of NATO Allied Land Command in Izmir, Turkey, on Thursday, Military Times reported. His next assignment will to be to lead U.S. Army Europe.
NATO’s vision for its future Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) is to have up to 5,000 troops from an international coalition ready at a moment’s notice to deploy anywhere in the world.
“We’re always going to be part of a coalition, if not an alliance,” Lt. Gen. Hodges told Military Times. “That means you’ve got to train and be prepared and do on short notice contingency operations that are going to be multinational in nature. That’s why interoperability is so important.”
Officials from the 28 NATO member countries will spend the next two months in Belgium establishing watch capabilities VJFT will have and where they will be stationed.
“Think of the VJTF as the lead element — the spearhead, if you will — of the NATO Response Force,” Lt. Gen. added, Military Times reported. “To be a very-high-readiness organization, you have to practice the assembly and departure and go do something. This is about deterrence as well as assurance.”
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• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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