North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Abstract The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance, with its political headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, and its military headquarters, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), in Mons, Belgium. It is headed by a Secretary General, who is appointed by the member states. The Secretary General chairs NATO's principal decision‐making body, the North Atlantic Council (NAC), which consists of permanent representatives of each member state and meets once every week. It provides a political forum for member states to discuss security matters and also provides guidance to NATO's military authorities. The Military Committee (MC) is the principal military body in the alliance, providing military advice to the NAC and NATO's two military commands, Allied Command Operations (ACO) and Allied Command Transformation (ACT). ACO is located at SHAPE and is responsible for all of NATO's operations. It is commanded by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and has two standing joint force commands, based in Brunssum, the Netherlands, and Naples, Italy, capable of deploying a land‐based Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF). It also has a standing joint force headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal, that can deploy a sea‐based CJTF. ACT is based in Norfolk, Virginia, and is responsible for the transformation of NATO's structures forces, capabilities, and doctrine. It is commanded by the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) and is the only permanent NATO headquarters outside of Europe and the only NATO command located in North America.