Chair of the NATO Military Committee
The Chair of the NATO Military Committee (CMC) is the head of the NATO Military Committee, which advises the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on military policy and strategy. The CMC is the senior military spokesperson of the 31-nation alliance and principal advisor to the Secretary General. The chair is one of the foremost officials of NATO, next to the Secretary General and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe. The CMC is assisted by the deputy chair, who advises the Deputy Secretary General and serves as the principal agent for coordination of nuclear, biological, and chemical matters for the Military Committee.[1] Originally titled the Chairman, the post was redesignated in 2021 to reflect the gender-neutrality of the post.[2]
Chair of the NATO Military Committee | |
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![]() Coat of arms | |
NAC | |
Abbreviation | CMC |
Member of | ![]() |
Reports to | Secretary General of NATO |
Seat | NATO Military Committee |
Term length | 3 years |
Formation | 1949 |
First holder | General Omar Bradley |
Deputy | Deputy Chair of the NATO Military Committee |
Website | NATO |
The current Chair of the NATO Military Committee is lieutenant admiral Rob Bauer, former Chief of Defence of the Netherlands, who took office on 25 June 2021.[3]
Origins
In accordance with Article 9 of the North Atlantic Treaty and the guidance given by the Working Group on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during the first Council session in Washington in 1949, the Defence Committee rapidly established the Military Committee.[4] During its few sessions held behind closed doors in Washington, the Military Committee gave policy guidance on military matters to the Standing Group, and advice on military questions to the Defence Committee and other bodies, and it recommended military measures for the unified defence of the North Atlantic region to the Defence Committee. The Military Committee was directly subordinate to the Defence Committee, and each member nation was represented by its chief of staff or a deputy. Iceland, which had no military forces, was represented by a civilian. Each member state in turn held the Chair of the Military Committee for one year (C1 D-1/2,[5] DC 1/2[6]).
![](../I/NATO's_Chairman_of_the_Military_Committee_General_Knud_Bartels_makes_opening_statements_140521-D-HU462-160.jpg.webp)
Two other groups which also sat in Washington came directly under the Military Committee:
- the Standing Group, the executive body, set up at the beginning, responsible for Military Committee everyday business;
- the Military Representatives Committee (MRC), created at the end of 1950, to ensure communication of information and points of view between the Standing Group and Alliance member states not represented on it.
Appointment
The Chair of the Military Committee is elected from among the NATO Chiefs of Defence and appointed for a three-year term of office. He must have served as Chief of defence – or an equivalent capacity – in his own country and is traditionally a non-US officer of four-star rank or national equivalent.[7]
The Chair of the Military Committee chairs all meetings and acts in an international capacity. In their absence, the Deputy Chair of the Military Committee takes the chair.
List
Since the formation of NATO, its Military Chairmen have been:[8]
NATO Military Committee in Chiefs-of-Staff Session (1949–1963)
No. | Picture | Chairman of the NATO Military Committee | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | General of the Army Omar Bradley (1893–1981) | 5 October 1949 | 2 April 1951 | 1 year, 179 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
2 | Etienne Baele (1891–1975) | Lieutenant general2 April 1951 | 1952 | 0–1 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
3 | General Charles Foulkes (1903–1969) | 1952 | 1953 | 0–1 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
4 | Erhard J.C. Qvistgaard (1898–1980) | Admiral1953 | 1954 | 0–1 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
5 | Army general Augustin Guillaume (1895–1983) | 1954 | 1955 | 0–1 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
6 | General Stylianos Pallis | 1955 | 1956 | 0–1 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
7 | Giuseppe Mancinelli (1895–1976) | General1956 | 1 January 1957 | 0–1 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
8 | Ben Hasselman (1898–1984) | General1 January 1957 | 1 February 1958 | 1 year, 31 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
9 | Bjarne Øen (1898–1994) | Lieutenant general1 February 1958 | 1959 | 0–1 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
10 | J. A. Beleza Ferraz (1901–?) | General1959 | 1960 | 0–1 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
11 | Rüştü Erdelhun (1894–1983) | General23 February 1960 | 3 June 1960 | 101 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
12 | Admiral of the Fleet Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979) | 3 June 1960 | June 1961 | 1 year | ![]() | ![]() | |
13 | General Lyman Lemnitzer (1899–1988) | June 1961 | 1962 | 0–1 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
14 | Charles Paul de Cumont (1902–1990) | Lieutenant general1962 | December 1963 | 0–1 years | ![]() | ![]() |
NATO Military Committee in Permanent Session (1958–1963)
No. | Picture | Chairman of the NATO Military Committee | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ben Hasselman (1898–1984) | General1 February 1958 | April 1961 | 3 years, 2 months | ![]() | ![]() | |
2 | General Adolf Heusinger (1897–1982) | April 1961 | December 1963 | 2 years, 8 months | ![]() | ![]() |
NATO Military Committee (1963–present)
No. | Picture | Chairman of the NATO Military Committee | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Adolf Heusinger (1897–1982) | GeneralDecember 1963 | 1 April 1964 | 4 months | ![]() | ![]() | |
2 | Charles Paul de Cumont (1902–1990) | Lieutenant general1 April 1964 | 1 June 1968 | 4 years, 61 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
3 | Admiral Sir Nigel Henderson (1909–1993) | 1 June 1968 | 1 April 1971 | 2 years, 304 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
4 | Johannes Steinhoff (1913–1994) | General1 April 1971 | 28 June 1974 | 3 years, 88 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
5 | Sir Peter Hill-Norton (1915–2004) | Admiral of the Fleet28 June 1974 | 20 March 1977 | 2 years, 265 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
6 | Herman Fredrik Zeiner-Gundersen (1915–2002) | General20 March 1977 | 1980 | 2–3 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
7 | Admiral Robert Hilborn Falls (1924–2009) | 1980 | November 1983 | 2–3 years | ![]() | ![]() | |
8 | Cor de Jager (1925–2001) | GeneralNovember 1983 | 30 September 1986 | 2 years, 333 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
9 | Wolfgang Altenburg (1928–2023) | General30 September 1986 | 5 September 1989 | 2 years, 340 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
10 | Vigleik Eide (1933–2011) | General5 September 1989 | 31 December 1992 | 3 years, 117 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
11 | Field Marshal Sir Richard Vincent (1931–2018) | 1 January 1993 | 14 February 1996 | 3 years, 45 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
12 | Klaus Naumann (born 1939) | General14 February 1996 | 6 May 1999 | 3 years, 81 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
13 | Guido Venturoni (born 1934) | Admiral6 May 1999 | 30 June 2002 | 3 years, 55 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
14 | Harald Kujat (born 1942) | General1 July 2002 | 17 June 2005 | 2 years, 351 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
15 | General Raymond Henault (born 1949) | 17 June 2005 | 27 June 2008 | 3 years, 10 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
16 | Giampaolo Di Paola (born 1944) | Admiral27 June 2008 | 18 November 2011 | 3 years, 144 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
– | Lieutenant general Walter E. Gaskin (born 1951) Acting | 18 November 2011 | 2 January 2012 | 45 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
17 | Knud Bartels (born 1952) | General2 January 2012 | 26 June 2015 | 3 years, 175 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
18 | Petr Pavel (born 1961) | General26 June 2015 | 29 June 2018 | 3 years, 3 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
19 | Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach (born 1956) | 29 June 2018 | 25 June 2021 | 2 years, 361 days | ![]() | ![]() | |
20 | Lieutenant admiral Rob Bauer (born 1962) | 25 June 2021 | Incumbent | 2 years, 146 days | ![]() | ![]() |
See also
References
- https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_69471.htm, NATO: Deputy Chairman of the Military Committee (DCMC), Jan 19, 2016, retrieved Feb 22, 2018.
- "Press statement by Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Chair of the NATO Military Committee following the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence session". NATO. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- "Admiral Rob Bauer begins his tenure as Chair of the NATO Military Committee". NATO. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- Description at NATO Archives site. http://archives.nato.int/military-committee;isad
- "FIRST SESSION - REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON ORGANISATION AS ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL ON SEPTEMBER 17TH, 1949 - NATO Archives Online". Archives.nato.int. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
- "Directive To The Military Committee (Mc) - Nato Archives Online". Archives.nato.int. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
- NATO (9 July 2018). "Chairman of the Military Committee". NATO.int. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
- NATO. "Chairmen of the NATO Military Committee". NATO. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
Further reading
- Douglas S. Bland, 'The Military Committee of the North Atlantic Alliance: A Study of Structure and Strategy,' New York, Praeger, 1991.