Wednesday, September 05, 2007

NATO's Military Committee to Arrive in Ottawa

NATO's Military Committee arrives in Ottawa Thursday for a four-day visit, September 06-September 09 to Canada. After an overnight stop in Ottawa, the committee will fly to Victoria, B.C., on Friday for a series of meetings and interactive seminars.General Rick Hillier, Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff, will welcome the Chairman of the Military Committee, General Ray Henault, and NATO's 25 other chiefs of defence upon their arrival in Ottawa on 06 September where they will attend a State Dinner with the Governor General, before flying on to Victoria, British Columbia for a series of meetings and interactive seminars.These meetings will focus on how to improve providing resources and other capabilities to enhance operations.

Date: Thursday, Sept. 6th 2007
Time: 12 - 1:20 p.m.
Location: Ottawa (personally, and for security purposes, I'm going to refrain from submitting the location on this site)
A 50-person honour guard will be inspected by the Chairman. The Canadian Forces Central
Band will perform and there will be a CF Snowbird fly pass.

The annual meeting of the alliance’s military committee has been in the planning stages for the last two years and NATO officials stress it is not an emergency session to deal with the ongoing Afghanistan mission. While Afghanistan will be discussed, it will be in the context of longer-term planning, they said.
NATO’s military committee is the senior military authority in NATO, providing the alliance’s civilian decision-makers with advice on defence matters. The committee is currently chaired by Canadian Gen. Ray Henault.
Henault proposed the main focus of the meeting be “delivering coherent capabilities on future operations,” said a NATO official.
The discussions will concentrate on the level of resources available to the alliance, training and mounting military operations.
“It is our view that by taking a longer-term approach to planning for operations we stand a better chance of having the right capabilities, from more allies, at the right time,” said the NATO official.
Over the last year, some NATO nations have been at odds with each other over the level of involvement in combat by alliance members in Afghanistan. Some nations do not undertake night operations while others operate under caveats which prevent an active combat role.
About the Military Committee- What is it? :

The Military Committee (MC) is the senior military authority in NATO, providing NATO’s civilian decision-making bodies – the North Atlantic Council, the Defence Planning Committee and the Nuclear Planning Group - with advice on military matters.

The Military Committee is made up of senior military officers from the NATO member countries who serve as their country’s Military Representatives to NATO, representing their Chief of Defence.
The Military Representatives work in a national capacity, representing the interests of their countries while remaining open to negotiation and discussion so that a NATO consensus can be reached.

The Committee’s principal role is to provide direction and advice on military policy and strategy. It is responsible for recommending to NATO's political authorities those measures considered necessary for the common defence of the NATO area and for the implementation of decisions regarding NATO’s operations and missions.

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