Heard a rumor about the upcoming NATO re-organization and was wondering if anybody else had heard something different or can confirm this is the thinking.

NATO HQ moving to Strasbourg (France) so EU Parliment can stay in Brussels all the time and not move back and forth.

SHAPE moving to Bonn to take over all the empty government buildings the Germans have available.

JFC Brunssum, JFC Naples, JFC Lisbon: One of the three HQs dies.

Air North and Air South: Consolidate into one Air Component HQ and probably be located in Turkey

Maritime North and South: Consolidate into one Maritime Component HQ and probably be located in ??? (Lisbon maybe, if JFC Lisbon dies. Appears to mean that PJHQ and Fleet will get to fight over the Atlantic Building on Northwood)

Land North and South: Consolidate into one Land Component HQ and probably be located in ???

Rule changes for the nations hosting NATO HQ’s mean that they (the nations) have to provide the support funding that used to come out of NATO Common funds. Now not such an attractive proposition to be a host nation, since you have to pay to get the impact of everybody moving in.

Belgium would not take kindly losing both SHAPE and NATO HQ....Strasbourg is very nice if you are living inside the city, already very international and lot of good wine down the road in Alsace but some of the suburbs are very grotty and the city holds the French record for burning cars on New Year's Eve...

As for Lisbon, since it's under a French CDR and France is pushing for NATO to trim its fat, I think it would be the first to go, esp. if NATO HQ in Strasbourg is offered as a compensation.

Hmmmmm......Assumption based on speculation here.

NATO has 28 full members, but only 4 of them are considered major contributors in both the military and financial areas. Three of them do not get fair NATO representation on their soil, and are pretty sick of indirectly subsidising economies in the others, by the current NATO basing policy. There is a strong possibility that one of the two big NATO HQs (SHAPE or NHQ) will move to Germany, either JHQ Rheindahlen or the current MoD buildings in Bonn. The Belgian government has added some motivation to this by withdrawing (most of the) tax-free purchase privileges for NATO personnel and reneging on the land deal for the new NHQ over the road in Brussels.

To work out the number of JFCs required you need to start at the bottom of the pyramid with the CAOCs and the CC's. If the bottom of the pyramid narrows so will the middle, but not necessarily the top bit.

A fair guess would be:

2 CAOCs close. The others combine for static purposes but retain 2 DCAOCs and move to Ramstein. CCA Izmir closes. CCLs combine as you say, as do the CCMs on the same basis as the air component. JFCNP and LB remain with JFCBS moving to France and becoming a non-op HQ of the same status. This seems a little odd as they are the only credible JFC at the moment. SHAPE moves to either JHQ or Bonn and NHQ remains in Brussels on re-negotiated terms. All common-funded deployable assets move under a single command, as do support elements.

Winners: Germany and France.

Losers: The slackers who are not really politically committed to NATO anyway.

The (other) main contributors maintain their status quo, but the whole thing is on a more rational and stable basis.

There is a lot more but it would be far too much to type and most of this is conjecture anyway.

Going to be interesting to see how all this works out. NATO has always been a rather unwieldy and clustered up organization... hopefully these changes result in streamlining command and control with an eye towards increased strategic capability.

Originally Posted by greenbaggyskin

The Belgian government has added some motivation to this by withdrawing (most of the) tax-free purchase privileges for NATO personnel and reneging on the land deal for the new NHQ over the road in Brussels.

greenbaggyskin

Not sure of your location so you may be better placed to comment than I,

Is it not a little late to renege on deals once you have started to build the access roads to the new HQ or is it just another example of what happens when you do not have a proper government in place. Whatever the case it does make the Blvd Leopold III an even more interesting place at rush hour vis a vis Belgian driving habits, I am just waiting for one of them to drive into the great big hole they have dug.

If a move from SHAPE is afoot, at least it looks likely that the newly created NSHQ (NATO Special Operations Headquarters) will remain in Mons as the building of the NSHQ new facilities have only just started...


A groundbreaking ceremony for the future home for the NATO Special Operations Headquarters (NSHQ) was conducted Monday 29th November 2010 at SHAPE. The future facility will provide operational support, training and headquarters facilities for NSHQ, previously known as the Special Operations Forces Coordination Centre.
This event followed the formal standing-up of NSHQ held on the 22nd of November. During that event, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), Admiral James Stavridis, officially handed a "unit” flag to the NSHQ Commander and Director, Special Operations Office (DSOO), LieutenantGeneral (US) Frank J Kisner.

ACO - Allied Command Operations | Groundbreaking ceremony for NATO Special Operations Headquarters

[QUOTE=fantassin;3582248]If a move from SHAPE is afoot, at least it looks likely that the newly created NSHQ (NATO Special Operations Headquarters) will remain in Mons as the building of the NSHQ new facilities have only just started.../QUOTE]

Actually my previous experience says that if you want to know what location is closing, look for new construction.

AFNW had a brand new building which needed a couple of items to finish it off. NATO allocated the money, the new sections were finished and about six months later they announced that AFNW would be closed.

Also holds true for the US. RAF Daws Hill (US housing area near High Wycombe) had every housing unit totally renovated and just as they finished the last house, they announced that all military stuff around London would be closed, since the Navy command was moving to Naples. On a side note, apparently the RAF wanted to take over the housing, but Defence Estates was dictating that it had to go to High Wycombe council for lost cost housing. Because the houses were built too far apart for UK standards, the last plan we heard about said they were going to bulldoze everything flat to build anew.

Naples would collapse without milking the NATO cash cow.

Does anybody know how to find out about jobs in the NATO HQ's?

I would like to serve in a NATO HQ but I can't find military positions or ways of applying.

Speak to your desk officer in Glasgow, I know first hand that there are a few vacancies for Tech Sgts in Brunssum. For definate 2, one guy leaving, one posted out. Possibly upto about 4 more. So if you're a tech and a Sgt, you could be on your way. You don't know if you don't ask. I did, now i'm living the dream