NATO Military Committee Examines Full Range of Alliance Challenges

By Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WARSAW, Poland -- NATO chiefs of defense will discuss the alliance’s full range of challenges, operations and processes as part of the Military Committee meeting here today.

Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined 28 other alliance chiefs as the committee looked at Afghanistan, the threats from the south and operations to deter Russia.

British Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, the new chairman of the Military Committee, said the alliance faces “an unpredictable and fluid environment, with many challenges and developing threats posed by state and nonstate actors in the traditional domains of land, sea and air, as well as hybrid warfare and cyberattacks.”

Peach reminded all that the chiefs of defense work together under the alliance structure “to safeguard the security of 1 billion citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.”

At the beginning of the meeting, the chiefs observed a minute of silence for the NATO troops killed in the line of duty since the Military Committee last met in May. Three Czech soldiers and two American soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan.

The chiefs will first look to missions and operations. Almost 20,000 NATO military personnel are engaged in operations around the world in complex ground, naval and air operations in all types of environments, Peach said.

Unwavering Commitment

The two main efforts are in Afghanistan and the new training mission in Iraq.

“Our commitment to Afghanistan is unwavering,” the air chief marshal said. “The security situation remains challenging. Nevertheless, the Afghan national security forces are working hard to secure their country and deny a safe haven to terrorists.”

In Iraq, NATO continues to support the Iraqi government and its efforts to stabilize the country and fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, he said.

The meeting’s second session will focus on NATO military strategy. “As the alliance adapts and modernizes in line with political decisions and guidance, the Military Committee needs to ensure the alliance continues to have an overarching framework to promote a common understanding of NATO’s military goals, intended approaches and resource requirements,” Peach said. “The alliance does not have the luxury of deciding which security threats we face, so we must be able to operate across all domains now and in the future.”

Resilient Posture

The third session will focus on readiness, responsiveness and reinforcement, as the military chiefs look to ensure the alliance’s deterrence and defense posture remains credible, coherent and resilient. “It is of strategic importance to improve responsiveness, heighten readiness and improve reinforcement,” he said.

NATO’s readiness initiative will ensure that more high-quality national combat forces will be available to NATO, quickly, the committee chairman said. “From within the pool of forces, allies will offer an additional 30 naval combatants, 30 heavy or medium maneuver battalions, 30 kinetic air squadrons with enabling forces at 30 days readiness or less,” he said.

The final session will look at NATO’s modernization, command structure adaptation and headquarters functional review.

Face of Defense: Airman Describes Her Journey From Pro Basketball to Service

By Air Force Airman 1st Class Tara Stetler, 375th Air Mobility Wing

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- “When you first go out there, you’re nervous,” said Air Force 1st Lt. Brittnie Davis, Air Mobility Command intelligence officer, as she described what it’s like to be on the court during a professional Australian basketball game.

“You have the lights on you. You have people in the crowd. You put a lot of pressure on yourself thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got to do good,’ but after the ball tips, your focus is all on basketball at that point.”

Davis’ formal basketball career began when she asked Troy University’s coach if she could try-out as a walk on after she was not recruited.

“He said no one had walked onto the team in 10 years, and I was up for the challenge,” Davis said. “My freshman year I walked on.”

Making the team was only the beginning. It would take hours of practice for Davis to work her way onto the court.

“There were girls who could out-shoot me, who were faster than me, but I was like, ‘I have to out-work them,’” Davis said. “Eventually, I was able to shoot better and run faster because of all the hard work.”

Basketball Scholarship

Davis’ dedication to improvement impressed her coach, who offered her a full scholarship for her sophomore year.

“By my junior year I was starting,” Davis said, “and I led my team in scoring my senior year.”

Her motivation and talent did not go unnoticed by her teammates, some of whom were Australian exchange students. They connected her with the Waratah League, a semi-professional league in New South Wales, Australia.

“One of them came to me and said, ‘Hey, what do you think about playing in Australia?’ and just like that, I ended up on a 14-hour flight to Australia,” Davis said.

Davis played for the Newcastle Hunters, one of 10 teams in the league.

“Going around, travelling, seeing different parts of a whole different continent was amazing,” she said. “The competition was different compared to college. It was, of course, a lot better. So it challenged me even more to play at a different level.”

Joining the Air Force

After a year with the Hunters, Davis decided to return to the United States, but she began to miss the camaraderie she’d felt on her team. That was when she became interested in joining the military.

“Connecting with the team, it just wasn’t hard because you have one goal,” Davis said. “That’s the one thing I missed because you have one goal, and you’re fighting for the same thing. I was like, ‘Do I really want to find a regular job?’”

In 2012, Davis enlisted as an X-ray technician. However, with a master’s degree under her belt, she was determined to earn a commission.

“I always knew I wanted to become an officer,” Davis said, “and I knew the only way I would do that is to do better than my peers, and that’s not stepping on people or being mean to other people to try to get up. If you see where you can help someone else, you help them, but you just give it your all, regardless, and it does pay off.”

Davis was rewarded for her dedication when she became an intelligence officer in 2016.

“Hard work pays off,” she said. “I know that sounds cliché, but I’m serious. It works!”

Chairman’s European Trip Will Concentrate on NATO

By Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

LONDON -- Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford arrived here today beginning a trip that will concentrate on the North Atlantic alliance.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is meeting with his British counterpart Gen. Sir Nicholas Carter of the British army, the chief of defense staff.

The two men will journey to Warsaw, Poland, for the NATO Military Committee Meeting.

The committee, made up of all the alliance defense chiefs, will discuss the way forward following the successful NATO summit in July. To counter Russia, alliance heads of state agreed to raise the readiness of forces and make them more mobile. The leaders agreed to form two new commands to safeguard the link between North America and Europe, and a logistics command in Europe. The United States will host the Atlantic command, and Germany the logistics command.

Cyber Operations Center

The leaders also approved a new cyber operations center and counter-hybrid support teams.

The alliance also looked to combat terrorism, approving a new training mission in Iraq; more support for Jordan and Tunisia; a fully operational hub for the South in Naples in Italy, and more.

NATO defense chiefs will examine the road ahead and how each of these tasks will be accomplished.

Dunford and Carter have worked together in the past, most recently when Dunford commanded the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and Carter was the deputy commander. Carter took his position in June 2018 and this is his first Military Committee Meeting.