Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO

Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, commonly known as STRIKFORNATO, is a maritime command within NATO's integrated military structure and Allied Command Operations. It provides an operational headquarters able to plan, assemble, and command multinational maritime forces, including carrier, amphibious, surface, submarine, mine-countermeasure, and land-based expeditionary elements. Its distinctive role is the ability to lead an expanded maritime task force when NATO requires several naval and expeditionary formations to operate under a single command framework. The command originated as Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe, or STRIKFORSOUTH. Its creation reflected the special position of the United States Sixth Fleet in NATO's Mediterranean command arrangements during the early Cold War. The Sixth Fleet remained under American command, while most other allied naval forces in the Mediterranean were organized under Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe, headquartered at Naples. A separate headquarters was therefore established to provide NATO command arrangements for the American-led naval striking force while maintaining coordination with the wider Allied Forces Southern Europe structure. The new headquarters was authorized in December 1952 and developed shore facilities at the NATO complex in Bagnoli, Naples, during 1953. The original command covered the Mediterranean theater from the Strait of Gibraltar through the eastern Mediterranean and into the Black Sea. Its wartime responsibilities included planning conventional air strikes, close air support, amphibious operations, and other maritime actions in support of NATO's counter-offensive plans. During the 1960s and 1970s, the growth of Soviet naval activity in the Mediterranean increased the headquarters' importance in maritime planning and nuclear-strike planning. It also maintained readiness through recurring large-scale amphibious exercises and a broad program of smaller exercises and training events. After the Cold War, STRIKFORSOUTH adapted to a security environment shaped by regional conflicts rather than a single opposing naval bloc. It supported NATO planning connected with the Balkans, the Middle East, and Africa, and it helped develop the Multinational Amphibious Task Force concept. During the Gulf War, it coordinated NATO support for the security of Mediterranean supply routes used by coalition forces. During the Balkan conflicts, its personnel provided planning assistance and liaison support to Allied Forces Southern Europe operations. The command also established a Kosovo Verification Coordination Centre in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and its commander assumed control of NATO carrier forces during Operation Allied Force. In 2004, the headquarters was renamed Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, reflecting a broader NATO-wide rather than exclusively southern-European identity. The command is commanded by the Commander of the United States Sixth Fleet, preserving the historical relationship between the headquarters and the U.S. Navy's European maritime command. STRIKFORNATO is not a commercial brand and does not sell products or services in the ordinary market sense. Its principal output is military command-and-control capability: operational planning, force integration, exercise leadership, maritime task-force headquarters functions, and support to NATO deterrence and collective-defense missions. A prominent modern demonstration of this role occurred during Exercise Trident Juncture 2018. Embarked aboard USS Mount Whitney, STRIKFORNATO operated as an afloat command platform and led an expanded NATO task force involving multiple strike groups, amphibious formations, surface-action groups, mine-countermeasure assets, a submarine, and other forces. More than 20 ships and troops ashore in Norway came under the exercise command structure at different stages. The exercise tested NATO's ability to coordinate a collective response to an armed attack against an ally under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. Through such exercises and operational assignments, STRIKFORNATO serves as a standing mechanism for integrating national naval forces into multinational NATO formations.

The institutional history of STRIKFORNATO is closely connected to the postwar organization of NATO's naval command structure in the Mediterranean. In the early 1950s, the alliance was attempting to reconcile national command sensitivities, the role of the United States Sixth Fleet, and the division of responsibility among NATO's southern commands. Negotiations concerning control of Mediterranean sea lanes contributed to delays in establishing the broader Allied Forces Southern Europe structure. The United States also maintained a distinctive position because of the legal and political restrictions surrounding American nuclear forces. The prevailing interpretation of the United States Atomic Energy Act of 1946, commonly called the McMahon Act, meant that nuclear striking forces could not be placed under the control of a non-American commander. As a result, the Sixth Fleet could not simply be absorbed into a general allied naval command led by another nation. The solution was to establish a separate naval striking and support headquarters that remained associated with the U.S. Sixth Fleet while reporting within the NATO southern command system. Allied Forces Southern Europe authorized the headquarters in December 1952. It became a principal subordinate command of the southern command and was initially staffed mainly by U.S. Navy personnel because the forces assigned to it were predominantly American. Officers and personnel from France, Greece, Italy, Turkey, and the United Kingdom subsequently joined the staff, improving coordination with other Mediterranean NATO commanders and supporting multinational planning and exercises. The headquarters established shore facilities in 1953 at the NATO Allied Forces Southern Europe complex in Bagnoli, Naples. Its initial area of responsibility extended across the Mediterranean theater, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. In a major conflict, STRIKFORSOUTH was expected to support NATO counter-offensive operations through deep conventional air attacks, close air support, and amphibious operations. During the Cold War, the headquarters also advised the southern command and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe on nuclear-strike planning. Its readiness was reinforced by semiannual large-scale amphibious exercises and numerous smaller exercises focused on maritime warfare, command coordination, and amphibious capabilities. The command's work changed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the reduction of the immediate Cold War naval threat. NATO's attention increasingly focused on instability and armed conflict in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Africa. STRIKFORSOUTH helped develop the Multinational Amphibious Task Force concept, intended to allow forces from several allied nations to operate as a coherent expeditionary formation. It also provided planning support and liaison personnel for NATO activity connected with the Balkan conflicts. Its personnel established the Kosovo Verification Coordination Centre in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the commander of STRIKFORSOUTH took command of NATO carrier forces during Operation Allied Force. The headquarters adopted its current name, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, in 2004. The change signaled that its remit was no longer best understood as limited to southern Europe. The command retained a close association with the United States Sixth Fleet: the Sixth Fleet commander also commands STRIKFORNATO. This dual relationship provides a permanent link between national naval forces and NATO's operational command structure while allowing the headquarters to integrate forces from multiple allied and partner nations. In the twenty-first century, STRIKFORNATO has emphasized deployable command-and-control and the ability to coordinate large, complex maritime formations. Exercise Trident Juncture 2018 illustrated this function. From late October to early November 2018, the command operated from USS Mount Whitney, its afloat command platform for the exercise. It coordinated a force that included U.S. Marine formations, an expeditionary strike group, a Canadian-British surface action group, a Norwegian surface action group, mine-countermeasure units, a Norwegian submarine, and the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group for part of the exercise. The headquarters commanded more than 20 ships and troops ashore in Norway within the exercise framework. Trident Juncture tested NATO's ability to respond collectively to an armed attack and demonstrated the command's capacity to transform dispersed national forces into an expanded maritime task force. Today, STRIKFORNATO remains a NATO military command rather than a commercial enterprise. Its continuing value lies in planning expertise, interoperable procedures, multinational staff work, amphibious and carrier-force coordination, and the capacity to assume command of a substantial maritime task force during exercises, crisis response, or collective-defense operations.

• 2018

  Command role in Exercise Trident Juncture

  [1]Naval Striking and Support Forces NATOen.wikipedia.org

  Embarked aboard USS Mount Whitney, STRIKFORNATO commanded an expanded maritime task force during Trident Juncture 2018 in the North and Norwegian seas and Norway.

• 2004

  Renamed Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO

  [1]Naval Striking and Support Forces NATOen.wikipedia.org

  The former Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe adopted the broader NATO designation STRIKFORNATO.

• 1999

  Carrier-force command during Operation Allied Force

  [1]Naval Striking and Support Forces NATOen.wikipedia.org

  The commander of STRIKFORSOUTH assumed command of NATO carrier forces during Operation Allied Force, while the headquarters provided Balkan-related planning and liaison support.

• 1990

  Mediterranean support during the Gulf War

  [1]Naval Striking and Support Forces NATOen.wikipedia.org

  The command coordinated NATO support for protecting Mediterranean supply lines used by coalition forces during the Gulf War.

• 1990

  Post-Cold War amphibious-force development

  [1]Naval Striking and Support Forces NATOen.wikipedia.org

  As NATO's strategic environment changed, the command helped develop and refine the Multinational Amphibious Task Force concept.

• 1953

  Shore facilities established in Bagnoli

  [1]Naval Striking and Support Forces NATOen.wikipedia.org

  The command established staff facilities at the Allied Forces Southern Europe complex in Bagnoli, Naples.

• 1952

  Separate southern naval striking headquarters authorized

  [1]Naval Striking and Support Forces NATOen.wikipedia.org

  Allied Forces Southern Europe authorized the headquarters that became Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe, creating a NATO command arrangement for the U.S. Sixth Fleet and associated naval striking forces.

A specialized NATO maritime command and force-integration headquarters rather than a commercial brand. Its role is to provide deployable command-and-control capacity for multinational naval, amphibious, carrier, and expeditionary operations.

• 2018Exercise Trident Juncture 2018

  North Sea · Norwegian Sea · Norway

  From 25 October to 7 November 2018, STRIKFORNATO operated from USS Mount Whitney as an afloat command platform and coordinated multiple strike groups, amphibious formations, surface-action groups, mine-countermeasure assets, a submarine, and troops ashore.

  Outcome. The exercise tested NATO's collective response to an armed attack against an ally and demonstrated STRIKFORNATO's expanded-task-force command capability.

  Source
• 1999Operation Allied Force

  Balkans · Adriatic and Mediterranean region

  The STRIKFORSOUTH commander assumed command of NATO carrier forces during Operation Allied Force, while the headquarters supported the wider NATO operational framework.

  Outcome. The command provided carrier-force leadership within the NATO operation.

  Source
• 1990Gulf War Mediterranean support

  Mediterranean theater

  STRIKFORSOUTH coordinated NATO support for the security of Mediterranean lines of supply used by coalition forces during the Gulf War.

  Outcome. The command contributed maritime coordination and support to the protection of coalition logistics routes.

  Source
• 1990Balkan planning and liaison support

  Balkans · Mediterranean theater

  Following the Cold War, STRIKFORSOUTH provided planning support and liaison personnel for NATO activity associated with conflicts in the Balkans.

  Outcome. The effort included the establishment of a Kosovo Verification Coordination Centre in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

  Source

• 2018

  Afloat command of an expanded maritime task forceOther

  Background

  Trident Juncture 2018 required NATO to test command arrangements for a large multinational force operating across maritime and land environments.

  Action taken

  STRIKFORNATO deployed aboard USS Mount Whitney and exercised command and control over more than 20 ships and troops ashore in Norway.

  Aftermath

  The exercise demonstrated the command's ability to integrate carrier, amphibious, surface, submarine, mine-countermeasure, and land forces under an expanded NATO maritime task-force structure.

  Source

• 2004

  Adoption of the STRIKFORNATO designationStrategy

  Background

  The post-Cold War security environment required a maritime command identity broader than a narrowly southern-European remit.

  Action taken

  Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe was renamed Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO.

  Aftermath

  The new designation reflected the headquarters' role in wider NATO maritime operations and multinational force integration.

  Source

• 1952

  Creation of a separate Sixth Fleet-linked NATO headquartersStrategy

  Background

  NATO's southern maritime command structure had to accommodate the American command and legal requirements surrounding the Sixth Fleet and nuclear striking forces.

  Action taken

  Allied Forces Southern Europe authorized a separate Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe headquarters as a principal subordinate command.

  Aftermath

  The arrangement enabled the U.S. Sixth Fleet to retain American command while participating in NATO planning and operations.

  Source

1. 1Naval Striking and Support Forces NATOen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO official websitesfn.nato.int