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Nov 14 2016

Agency boosts support to NATO’s presence in East

Ensuring efficient and rapid technical support to NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence on its eastern flank was one of the topics at a conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, which brought together NATO's Force Integration Units in Eastern Europe.

NATO is enhancing its forward presence in the eastern part of the Alliance, with four multinational battalions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, on a rotational basis. NATO is also developing a tailored forward presence in the southeast of Alliance territory with a land element built around a multinational framework brigade, under Multinational Division Southeast in Romania and coordinated multinational training through the Combined Joint Enhanced Training Initiative.

The NCI Agency has been responsible for providing IT support and connectivity to enable these deployments, including connectivity for NATO's six new NATO Force Integration Units in Eastern Europe, delivered under challenging timelines ahead of the historic Warsaw Summit.

"We are proud of the fact that a core Agency responsibility is to move quickly to support Summit decisions and major political priorities," said NCI Agency General Manager Koen Gijsbers. "It is important that we do that as efficiently and effectively as possible, and that is the reason for our dialogue today."

Stepping up support

The conference, which took place on 18-20 October 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania, was chaired by Lieutenant General Manfred Hofmann, Commander of the Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC NE).

NCI Agency Director Demand Management Dr Shalamanov, and Principal Account Manager for NATO Force Structure Ms Els Boets represented the NCI Agency at the conference, which was also attended by senior officials from the Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFCBS), the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), and the NFIUs.

All participants expressed their appreciation for the NCI Agency's contribution to the successful establishment of the NFIUs and its support to the MNC NE. The Agency is expected to provide further assistance as NATO enhances its forward presence in the eastern part of the Alliance.

NCI Agency General Manager MGEN (ret) Koen Gijsbers has signed a statement of commitment to the efforts of MNC NE and NFIUs in its Area of Responsibility, and other NATO activities related to the Enhanced Forward Presence.

Based on this statement, the Agency hopes to build partnerships with the MNC NE and NFIU Nations, as well as JFC Brunssum, the United States Army Europe and Nations contributing to the forward presence.

This cooperation will allow the Agency to provide the IT, communication and cyber support required for the implementation of Warsaw Summit decisions in the most effective manner.

Following guidance from the operational community, stakeholders will be discussing the NATO Forces Readiness and Interoperability Partnership and the NATO First Solution at the upcoming Chief Information Officers Conference, taking place on 16 November 2016 in Brussels, Belgium.