What Do You Mean, SHAPE Isn't NATO Headquarters?
Abstract
Imagine my excitement as I considered my assignment to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), in Mons, Belgium. But upon arriving, that excitement turned into a growing confusion, culminating in the question: What do you mean, SHAPE isn't NATO headquarters? Thus began 6 weeks of learning the basics of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), followed by a year of discovering how much more there was to learn. While our alliance partners may easily serve multiple NATO assignments during their military careers, U.S. Army Soldiers rarely receive even one NATO assignment in a typical career. From my own experience, and the similar experience of most of my U.S. Army peers working in NATO, I believe that our U.S. Army education (formal and informal) about NATO is severely lacking. However, as the United States moves to a more austere future budget (just as our alliance partners are doing), we are likely to conduct more operations with NATO. Thus, to be effective contributors in these future operations, we need to obtain a better working knowledge of NATO structures and operations, dispel some misconceptions about NATO, and review some practical tips.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA560161
Entities
People
- Chris Becking
Organizations
- United States Army Engineer School