Mattis, French Leaders Reaffirm Defense Relationship

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary James N. Mattis met with French President Emmanuel Macron and Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly today in Paris to reaffirm the long-standing defense relationship between the United States and France.

In a statement, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said Mattis thanked Macron and Parly for their leadership and contributions to the fight against terror in the Levant and Sahel.

“Both nations agreed NATO remains the cornerstone of European military security.” White said.

After meeting with the French leaders, Mattis traveled to Brussels, where he will attend a conference of NATO defense ministers.

Stoltenberg Forecasts NATO Defense Minister Discussions

By Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON -- NATO defense ministers are meeting in Brussels to implement the decisions made by alliance heads of state in July and to discuss burden sharing, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said today.

Defense Secretary James N. Mattis will join the other NATO allies in discussing the threats from Russia and the south, as well as changes to the alliance to deal with threats from the cyber world.

Alliance members are making progress toward achieving the goal of nations spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense, a goal agreed upon at NATO’s 2014 summit in Wales. “Over the past two years, European allies and Canada have spent a cumulative $41 billion more on defense, and I expect allies to make good on their commitments,” Stoltenberg said.

The defense ministers will also focus on alliance deterrence and defense. The ministerial conference will feature a meeting of the Nuclear Planning Group, and will address concerns about Russian violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed in 1987.

The ministers will review changes to the alliance command structure, which will include the addition of more than 1,200 personnel. Two new commands – one hosted in Norfolk, Virginia, and the other in Germany – will improve the movement of troops across the Atlantic and within Europe.

Cyber Operations, Partnerships

“We are also setting up our new Cyber Operations Centre, which will help us strengthen our defenses against a real and present threat,” the secretary general said. “Our top military commanders will brief us on the progress made.”

Finally, the ministers will address work with partner countries. They will discuss efforts in and around the Black Sea and the aspiration of Georgia to join the alliance.

The ministers also will review the NATO training mission in Iraq. The effort will include more than 500 troops and will help the country preserve the gains made by the global coalition to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Stoltenberg said.

Also, the ministers will meet with European Union Vice President Federica Mogherini to discuss cooperation in areas such as military mobility and managing hybrid threats. “Done in the right way, these efforts can contribute to fairer burden sharing between Europe and North America,” he said.

NATO Defense Chiefs Build 360-Degree Defense on Maturing Framework, Dunford Says

By Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

MADRID -- The NATO Military Committee Meeting in Warsaw this past weekend was so productive because the alliance chiefs of defense were able to build on the three-year framework put in place, Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford told reporters here today.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the Military Committee was able to flesh out the NATO 360-degree approach to security matters.

Dunford, who came to the position three-years ago, said there was not the appreciation of the Russian challenge then, that there is today. “There was also not the appreciation for violent extremism and the risk of terrorism in everybody’s backyard as there is today,” he said.

Relevant Alliance

In 2015, the alliance began the debate on 360-degree security. “At that point, all the members of the alliance wanted to know if the alliance was relevant to the security challenges they confronted,” he said.

In the past three years, alliance heads of state have met twice – most recently at the Brussels summit in July. The political leaders affirmed the alliance will meet the 360-degree challenge. The alliance will defend against the threat posed by Russia and it will address the threats emanating from North Africa and the Middle East – primarily the risks of mass migration and acts of terror.

Political leaders also realized that alliance readiness levels were not where they needed to be, the chairman said. They affirmed that NATO needed to adapt both its command structure and capabilities in order to be relevant for the challenges faced today.

Three years ago, the alliance created enhanced forward presence to assure allies that NATO would act. That effort has matured and transformed into alliance deterrence, “and we need to project security to the South to mitigate the effects of violent extremism and terrorist acts,” Dunford said.

That political framework is in place now. As military leaders “we don’t have to debate what to do,” the general said.

The military leaders “have a very clear mandate” to adapt the NATO command structure. They also are working on the 4X30 readiness initiative that calls for 30 ships, 30 aircraft squadrons, 30 battalions of ground forces to be ready in 30 days. “So we have to figure how to implement that,” he said.

“Everyone has a different priority to the challenges we face, but we have cohesion in that the alliance is expected to address all 29 members security challenges whether that comes from the South or the East,” the general said. “It’s been the journey that we’ve been on in my three years as chairman.”

About Deterrence

The alliance is first and foremost about deterrence. Then, if deterrence fails, it is about collective defense. “That requires a diplomatic effort and capabilities that can convince an adversary … that the cost that will be imposed will be much higher than whatever gain they can achieve,” he said.

An effective deterrent posture is most important when confronting Russia. Deterrence is across the board. NATO must deter in the nuclear, conventional and cyber realms. They also must be ready for capabilities that fall below the threshold of armed conflict that would be by definition aggressive and provocative acts, Dunford said.

NATO adaptation, measures taken to enhance deterrence, the European Defense Initiative are “all clearly intended to send a message to Russia that there is an effective conventional deterrent and a collective defense of NATO,” he said. “All of the activity that we do – our exercises, our training, our force posture – is all designed to ensure that our deterrence is effective.”