The Allied Land Command
COMMANDER ’ S MESSAGE
Lieutenant General Darryl A . Williams Commander
At the time of writing this article I am just shy of 120 days in Command . As such this will be a reflection of my first impressions having recently visited SHAPE , NATO , each of the nine Graduated Response Force HQs ( GRF-L ), plus Multinational Division Southeast ( MND-SE ), Sister Service Components , Joint Force Commands and other key stakeholders such as NATO Special Operations Headquarters . I come away from this whirlwind tour across Europe and Turkey with a sense of confidence and pride ; confidence in the strength and unity of the Alliance that is extant in these headquarters as demonstrated by extremely capable Commanders and Soldiers and pride in being able to call myself a member of this incredible team of teams that comprise the Alliance and it ’ s partner nations . The state of the land forces is strong , cohesive , and vibrant . For any ally or potential adversary to think otherwise would be incorrect .
My initial focus was to get out on the ground and see as much of the NATO Command Structure ( NCS ) and NATO Force Structure ( NFS ) as well as key stakeholders in other domains . It was important for me to do so as part of my initial commander ’ s assessment . Meeting as many key players personally and getting to , “ know you before I need you ”, as my good friend Mikhail at 1 GNC so aptly stated , was of the utmost importance to me . I know that this challenged you and your staff with off-site travel and the associated tasks with a Command visit . The time , insights and perspectives each of you offered was instrumental in allowing me to best form my initial assessment and gain fundamental understanding of the entire enterprise . It will allow myself and the LANDCOM team to better advocate on your behalf .
Being able to see with my own eyes the incredible capability and capacity of land forces was truly inspiring . This is a testament to the great teams you all command as well as the LANDCOM staff . I offer personal thanks to my predecessor GEN Nicholson , as well as LTG Paulo Ruggiero , for
handing over a highly capable and functioning team .
It is indeed an exciting time to be in NATO . Post Warsaw we have the distinct responsibility and honor to play our role in the evolution of the Alliance and let there be no doubt that the land forces are critical in this endeavor . We cannot rest on our laurels or accomplishments of our predecessors . The security environment and operational context will continue to remain ambiguous and complex . We must remain committed to high levels of readiness and agility . LANDCOM will continue to provide strategic advice to SACEUR and the SHAPE Staff on all land domain matters and provide several key proponent roles on land domain matters including but not limited to :
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�� �������� ��� ���� �������� ���� ���������� ���� ���bling , in a complimentary manner , the capability and capacity already extant with the Alliance and partner land forces .
�� ����������������������������������������������nective tissue amongst the NATO Force Structure ( NFS ) as well as between the NFS and NATO Command Structure ( NCS ). Serving as the bridge between the tactical and operational to the strategic .
�� �������� ��� ��������� ����������� ��� ������ ��� ���� “ key link ” between the land domain and the sister services of the NCS and other key stakeholders ( NSHO , CoEs , JALLC , NATO School , etc )
Additionally , LANDCOM must be agile and capable enough to provide the core element of a Land Component Command HQ in crisis for a Major Joint Operation ( MJO +). By ensuring we are capable we provide SACEUR with the agility that comes with an additional option for a mission command element . This provides him depth and agility in terms of decision space – something critical to any com-