BRUSSELS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- NATO Response Force (NRF) leaders met at Allied Air Component Command Headquarters in Ramstein of Germany to discuss the future of the fledging force, Mons (Belgium)-based Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) announced on Friday.
This is the first time for all NRF commanders, from NATO's component commands to meet and work together as a team since the NRF attained full operational capability (FOC) in November 2006 at the NATO Riga Summit.
The NRF is widely considered as an engine for NATO's continuing transformation as it shifts from its 20th century charter, that of a capable but primarily reactive alliance, to its 21st century requirement, which is to be a more proactive alliance at great strategic distances.
NATO officers, along with colleagues from international organizations and non-governmental organizations considered three types of missions that the NRF is designed to accomplish - embargo, crisis response and initial entry operations.
According to SHAPE press release, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and members of the North Atlantic Council attended the brain-storming discussion on Friday.
"The NATO Response Force is a ready, agile and flexible force which I believe is crucial to the health and success of our alliance in the coming years," SHAPE Commander Gen. John Craddock was quoted by a press release as saying.
"As a key element of our NATO military culture, the NRF can enable the alliance to better meet threats to security and stability in the 21st century," he said.
The NRF is a land, air, maritime and special operations force of up to 25,000 that can be tailored to specific missions and is held at 5 to 30 days notice to move.
High readiness forces fill the NRF on a rotational basis. Since its initial concept at the Prague Summit in November 2002 and the NRF's initial operational capability in August 2003, forces have participated in land component rotations of six months each and air and maritime rotations of one year each.
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