Chair of the NATO Military Committee

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
File:PavelPetr.jpg Incumbent General Petr Pavel since 26 June 2015
NAC
Member of	Czech Republic
Reports to	Secretary General of NATO
Formation	1949
First holder	General Omar Bradley
Website	NATO

The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee's (CMC) authority stems from the NATO Military Committee, to which he is responsible in the performance of his duties. The current Chairman of the NATO Military Committee is Petr Pavel, former Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic, who took office on June 26, 2015.

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. 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, DC 1/2).

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.

Representatives

The principal military member of each NATO country's delegation is the Military Representative, a senior officer from each country's armed forces, supported by the International Military Staff. Together the Military Representatives form the Military Committee (MC), a body responsible for assisting and advising the North Atlantic Council, Defence Planning Committee, and Nuclear Planning Group on military matters. 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.

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. 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.

The operational work of the Committee is supported by the International Military Staff.

The Chairman of the Military Committee chairs all meetings and acts in an international capacity. In his absence, the Deputy Chairman of the Military Committee takes the chair. The current Chairman is Czech General Petr Pavel.

Since the formation of NATO, its Military Chairmen have been:

#	Photo	Chairman of the NATO Military Committee	Rank	Nationality	Took office	Left office	Length of term
1		Omar N. Bradley	General of the Army	USA	1949	1951	j2 years
2		Etienne Baele	Lt. General	Belgium	1951	1952	j1 year
3		Charles Foulkes	Lt. General	Canada	1952	1953	j1 year
4		Erhard J.C. Qvistgaard	Admiral	Denmark	1953	1954	j1 year
5		Augustin Guillaume	General	France	1954	1955	j1 year
6		Stylianos Pallis	Lt. General	Greece	1955	1956	j1 year
7		Giuseppe Mancinelli	General	Italy	1956	1957	j1 year
8		B.R.P.F. Hasselman	General	Netherlands	1957	1958	j1 year
9		Bjarne Øen	Lt. General	Norway	1958	1959	j1 year
10		J.A. Beleza Ferras	General	Portugal	1959	1960	j1 year
11		Ruştü Erdelhun	General	Turkey	1960	1960	j >1 year
12	File:Mountbatten.jpg	Earl Mountbatten of Burma	Admiral of the Fleet	UK	1960	1961	j 1 year
13		Lyman L. Lemnitzer	General	USA	1961	1962	j 1 year
14		C.P. de Cumont	Lt. General	Belgium	1962	1963	j 1 year
15		Adolf Heusinger	General	West Germany	1963	1964	j 1 year
16		C.P. de Cumont	Lt. General	Belgium	1964	1968	j 4 years
17		Nigel Henderson	Admiral	UK	1968	1971	j 3 years
18		Johannes Steinhoff	General	West Germany	1971	1974	j 3 years
19		Sir Peter Hill-Norton	Admiral of the Fleet	UK	1974	1977	j 3 years
20		Herman Fredrik Zeiner-Gundersen	General	Norway	1977	1980	j 3 years
21		Robert H. Falls	Admiral	Canada	1980	1983	j 3 years
22		Cornelis De Jager	General	Netherlands	1983	1986	j 3 years
23		Wolfgang Altenburg	General	West Germany	1986	1989	j 3 years
24		Vigleik Eide	General	Norway	1989	1993	j 4 years
25		Sir Richard Vincent	Field Marshal	UK	October 1993	1996	j 3 years
26		Klaus Naumann	General	Germany	February 14, 1996	May 6, 1999	j3 years, 81 days
27		Guido Venturoni	Admiral	Italy	May 6, 1999	July 2002	j
26		Harald Kujat	General	Germany	July 2002	June 17, 2005	j
27		Raymond Henault	General	Canada	June 17, 2005	June 27, 2008	j3 years, 10 days
28		Giampaolo Di Paola	Admiral	Italy	June 27, 2008	November 18, 2011	j3 years, 144 days
29		Knud Bartels	General	Denmark	January 2, 2012	June 26, 2015	j 3 years, 175 days
30	File:PavelPetr.jpg	Petr Pavel	General	Czech Republic	June 26, 2015	Incumbent	j 9 years, 56 days

Further reading

• Douglas S. Bland, 'The Military Committee of the North Atlantic Alliance: A Study of Structure and Strategy,' New York, Praeger, 1991.