Allied Command Transformation
NATO strategic-level military command From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NATO strategic-level military command From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Allied Command Transformation (ACT) (French: Commandement allié Transformation)[1] is a military command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), formed in 2003 after restructuring.
| Allied Command Transformation | |
|---|---|
Emblem | |
| Founded | 19 June 2003 |
| Part of | North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) |
| Headquarters | Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads Norfolk, Virginia (USA) |
| Website | www |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Général Philippe Lavigne, French Air and Space Force |
It was intended to lead military transformation of alliance forces and capabilities, using new concepts such as the NATO Response Force and new doctrines in order to improve the alliance's military effectiveness. When France rejoined the NATO Military Command Structure in mid-2009, a significant change took place where the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) became a French officer. The first French officer to serve as SACT was French Air Force General Stephane Abrial (2009–2012).
Allied Command Transformation was preceded by Allied Command Atlantic (ACLANT) established in 1952 under the overall command of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT), with its headquarters at Norfolk, Virginia. ACLANT's purpose was to guard the sea lines of communication between North America and Europe in order to reinforce the European countries of NATO with U.S. troops and supplies in the event of a Soviet/Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. Following the end of the Cold War, the Command was reduced, with many of its subordinate headquarters spread across the Atlantic area losing their NATO status and funding. However, the basic structure remained in place until the Prague Summit in the Czech Republic in 2002. This led to ACLANT being decommissioned effective 19 June 2003, and a new Allied Command Transformation being established as its successor.[2]
Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. US Navy became the last SACLANT on 2 October 2002. He served as ACLANT commander until 19 Jun 2003. He then served as Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation, until 1 Aug 2005. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope RN, the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, then served as Acting Supreme Allied Commander until the arrival of General Lance L. Smith USAF in November 2005.
At the 2002 Prague Summit, it was decided that NATO should change its military structures and concepts, and acquire new types of equipment to face the operational challenges of coalition warfare against the threats of the new century. Thus NATO's military command structure was reorganized. One strategic command, Allied Command Transformation, was focused on transforming NATO, while the other strategic command focused on NATO's operations, Allied Command Operations. Initial reports about a NATO transformation command began to appear in July 2002.[3] ACT was formally established on June 19, 2003.
A suite of "Baseline for Rapid Iterative Transformational Experimentation" (BRITE) software was designed in response to the Maritime Situational Awareness request. This request, a product of a U.S. international and inter-agency initiatives termed "Maritime Domain Awareness," serves to counter threats to the maritime commons including terrorism, human/drug smuggling, piracy, and espionage.
Since Allied Command Atlantic became Allied Command Transformation, commanders have included non-naval officers. Gen. Lance L. Smith USAF commanded ACT from 10 Nov 2005 until 9 Nov 2007. He was succeeded by Gen. James N. Mattis USMC, who served from 9 Nov 2007 - 08 Sep 2009. A significant change was the assumption of command by a French officer, after France rejoined the NATO Command Structure in mid-2009. General Stéphane Abrial, former chief of the French Air Force assumed command in 2009. French Air Force General Jean-Paul Paloméros replaced Abrial at the end of September 2012. On 30 September 2015 French Air Force General Denis Mercier succeeded General Paloméros, in September 2018 General André Lanata succeeded General Mercier, and in 2021 General Philippe Lavigne succeeded General Lanata.
The Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation position is currently[update] filled by General Chris Badia of the German Air Force. He succeeded General Paolo Ruggiero, Italian Army, who succeeded Admiral Manfred Nielson, German Navy, who succeeded General Mirco Zuliani of the Italian Air Force, General Mieczysław Bieniek of the Polish Land Forces, Admiral Luciano Zappata (Italian Navy)[4] and Admiral Stanhope. For several years, in a carryover from SACLANT, the Deputy's position was filled by a Royal Navy admiral. Stanhope's succession by Zappata meant an end to this practice.
Allied Command Transformation's current[when?] mission is to:
A large number of conferences and seminars have been organised by the command in fulfilment of its conceptual development mission. These have included CD&E, a national Chiefs of Transformation conference, an examination of the Global Commons, Law of Armed Conflict, and a Multiple Futures project.[5]
The command's headquarters is in Norfolk, Virginia, in the United States. HQ SACT itself is organised into a command group, the Transformation Directorate, the Transformation Support Directorate, National Liaison Representatives, the Partnership for Peace Staff Element and Reservists responsible to HQ SACT.
The Transformation Directorate is headed by the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) Transformation who acts as the Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation's (SACT) Director for guidance and coordination of the activities of his or hers Directorate Transformation, divided in two divisions: Implementation and Capabilities. Within the full scale of SACT's transformational responsibilities the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) Transformation assists the Chief of Staff (COS) in the execution of his or her duties with emphasis on deliverables to the Alliance Military Transformation Process in order to enhance NATO's operational capabilities and to meet NATO's future requirements.
The Implementation Division, led by Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS) Implementation, is responsible for guidance and coordination of the activities of two Sub-Divisions, Joint Education and Training (JET) and Joint Experimentation, Exercises and Assessment (JEEA), as well as providing guidance for the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) and Joint Analysis Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC), in their efforts to enhance training programs, to carry out concept development and experimentation, to press on common standards, and to develop effective programs to capture and implement lessons learned. This division probablyis there some doubt? serves as NATO's linkpoint to the annual U.S.-led Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration.
The Capabilities Division, led by Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS) Capabilities, is responsible for guidance and coordination of the activities of three Sub-Divisions: of Strategic Concepts, Policy and Interoperability (SCPI); Future Capabilities, Research and Technology (FCRT) and Defence Planning (Def Plan) in their efforts to staff Capabilities, Concepts and Development products.
Reflecting NATO as a whole, ACT has a presence on both sides of the Atlantic.[6] Before the deactivation of United States Joint Forces Command, the two organisations were co-located, and indeed shared a commander for some time. There is an ACT command element located at SHAPE in Mons, Belgium. ACT's major subordinate commands are the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) in Stavanger, Norway; the Joint Force Training Centre (JFTC) in Bydgoszcz, Poland; and the Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC) in Monsanto, Portugal.[7][8] Under a customer-funded arrangement, ACT invests about 30 million Euros into research with the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) each year to support scientific and experimental programs.
A Centre of Excellence (COE) offers recognized expertise and experience to the benefit of the Alliance, especially in support of transformation. Most are single-nation sponsored, but some are sponsored by multiple members. It provides opportunities to enhance education and training, to improve interoperability and capabilities, to assist in doctrine development and/or to test and validate concepts through experimentation. A COE is not a part of the NATO Military Command Structure, but their activities with NATO are coordinated through Headquarters SACT. Since COEs are predominantly multinational entities, most COEs are overseen by a steering committee (SC), that sets the programme of work and approves the budget for the COE.[9][10] The SC consists of one voting representative of each Sponsoring Nation (SN) and a various number of observers. All decisions are made by consensus.
Principles:
NATO has the following accredited COEs:
| No. | Portrait | Supreme Allied Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Admiral Edmund Giambastiani (born 1948) | 19 June 2003 | 19 June 2005 | 2 years, 0 days |  United States Navy | |
| 2 | General Lance L. Smith (born 1946) | 10 November 2005 | 9 November 2007 | 1 year, 364 days |  United States Air Force | |
| 3 | General James Mattis (born 1950) | 9 November 2007 | 9 September 2009 | 1 year, 304 days |  United States Marine Corps | |
| 4 | Général d'armée Aérienne Stéphane Abrial (born 1954) | 9 September 2009 | 28 September 2012 | 3 years, 19 days |  French Air Force | |
| 5 | Général d'armée Aérienne Jean-Paul Paloméros (born 1953) | 28 September 2012 | 30 September 2015 | 3 years, 2 days | French Air Force | |
| 6 | Général d'armée Aérienne Denis Mercier (born 1959) | 30 September 2015 | 11 September 2018 | 2 years, 346 days | French Air Force | |
| 7 | Général d'armée Aérienne André Lanata (born 1961) | 11 September 2018 | 23 September 2021 | 3 years, 12 days | French Air and Space Force | |
| 8 | Général d'armée Aérienne Philippe Lavigne (born 1965) | 23 September 2021 | Incumbent | 2 years, 342 days | French Air and Space Force |
| No. | Name | Picture | Began office | End office | Defence branch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Admiral Sir Ian Forbes (born 1946) |
1 July 2003 | 10 July 2004 |  Royal Navy | |
| 2 | Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope (born 1952) |
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10 July 2004 | 3 July 2007 | Royal Navy |
| 3 | Admiral Luciano Zappata |  |
3 July 2007 | 29 September 2010 |  Italian Navy |
| 4 | General Mieczysław Bieniek (born 1951) |
 |
29 September 2010 | 3 September 2013 |  Polish Land Forces |
| 5 | General Mirco Zuliani (born 1953) |
 |
3 September 2013 | 24 March 2016 |  Italian Air Force |
| 6 | Admiral Manfred Nielson (born 1955) |
 |
24 March 2016 | 19 July 2019 |  German Navy |
| 7 | General Paolo Ruggiero (born 1957) |
 |
19 July 2019 | 7 July 2022 | Italian Army |
| 8 | General Chris Badia (born 1963) |
 |
7 July 2022 | Incumbent |  German Air Force |
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