FOREIGN POLICY/NATO/RUSSIA: “NATO is poised to approve the creation of two new commands to improve allied logistics and protect supply lines, aiming to shore up weaknesses in any potential conflict with Russia, allied officials said.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization defense ministers will review a new command structure at their quarterly meeting next month, the officials said.
The recommendations include a new NATO logistics command that would focus on moving people and materiel more quickly. They also include a command for the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans that would focus on protecting sea lanes, critical for supplying Europe, from submarine threats. Costs and funding for the new commands haven’t been finalized.
Rising tensions with Moscow have prompted NATO members to rethink the speed with which they reinforce front-line forces or move to unexpected conflict zones. NATO’s mobility atrophied during decades of peace and is impeded by European Union rules governing civil transportation, which apply to militaries during peacetime…
Gen. Hodges and other allied officers have called for creation of a Europe-wide zone in which materiel could move quickly, without lengthy approvals. NATO’s new command, officials say, could help launch such a zone. NATO has also proposed to the EU that the blocs cooperate on easing requirements for diplomatic clearances.”
-Julian E. Barnes, “NATO Plans to Create Two New Commands Amid Russia Tensions,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 24, 2017 07:57am