The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has activated the NATO Response Force (NRF) for the first time. The move was taken as a defensive measure in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Then what is NRF? Quoted from the NATO website, Saturday (26/2/2022), the NRF is a multinational and technologically advanced ready force consisting of land, air and sea components and special operations forces (SOF) that can be deployed quickly wherever needed.
The NRF's overarching goal is to be able to provide a rapid military response to emerging crises, either for collective defense purposes or for other crisis response operations.
The NRF provides NATO with the means to respond quickly to various types of crises anywhere in the world. It is also the driving engine for NATO's military transformation. The initiative to form the NRF was announced by NATO at the Prague Summit in November 2002.
The concept was then approved by all NATO defense ministers in June 2003 in Brussels.
At the NATO summit in Riga in November 2006, the NRF was declared fully prepared for operations and on 21 February 2013, the NATO Minister of Defense agreed that the NRF would be at the core of the Connected Forces Initiative to maintain NATO combat readiness and effectiveness.
The NRF is based on a rotational system in which Allied nations engage ground, air, maritime or Special Operations Forces (SOF) units for a period of 12 months.
The NRF is also open to partner countries, upon approval by the North Atlantic Council. The NRF operational command alternates annually between the Allied Joint Forces Command in Brunssum, Netherlands and Naples, Italy.
At the Wales Summit in September 2014, NATO decided to scale up the NRF and set up a Joint Very High Readiness Task Force (VJTF), which could be deployed within days to respond to any challenges that might arise.
The enhanced NATO rapid response force includes: - Command and control elements: The NRF operational command alternates between the Allied Joint Forces Command in Brunssum and Naples; - Joint Task Force Very High Readiness (VJTF): This element of the NRF – about 20,000 people strong includes a multinational ground brigade of about 5,000 troops and air, maritime and SOF components. Leading elements are ready to move in two to three days.
The Allies took a lead role for the VJTF on a rotating basis;
- Early Follow-Up Force Group (IFFG): This is a highly prepared force that can be deployed quickly after the VJTF, in response to a crisis. They consist of two multinational brigades;
- Maritime component: based on Standing NATO Maritime Groups (SNMGs) and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Groups (SNMCMGs);
- Combat air and air support components;
- Special Operations Forces; and - Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense task force (CBRN).
Prior to deployment, the NRF will be customized (tailored in size and capability) to suit the demands of whatever specific operation it is committed to.
The VJTF and Early Advanced Troops are based in their home country, but can be deployed wherever they are needed for training or crisis response.
The VJTF participated in its first deployment exercise in Poland in June 2015 and is regularly tested during exercises on its ability to deploy and respond to any emerging crisis. The leadership of the VJTF rotates annually, with one Allied being designated the lead state and the other Allies participating.
In June 2015, the NATO Minister of Defense took a decision on the air, maritime and SOF components of the upgraded NRF, agreeing that the force could consist of up to 40,000 personnel.
In addition to its operational role, the NRF can be used for greater cooperation in education and training, increased training, support for disaster relief and better use of technology.
This troop was recorded to have been involved in securing the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece in 2004. NRF has also been used in disaster relief such as during Hurricane Katrina in the United States, the devastating earthquake in Pakistan.
The NRF is also activated to support the evacuation and relocation of Afghans in cooperation with NATO. This rapid response force included the creation of Task Force Noble, a task force coordinating hundreds of NRF troops from 20 Allied nations.
These forces support evacuations at sites across Europe, including by transport aircraft, construction equipment, ambulances, medical teams, civil affairs teams and security personnel.
