Home  /  BALTIC AMBER Magazine  /  NATO'S LAND FORCES: ON SOLID GROUND IN THE JOINT ENVIRONMENT

Author: MAJOR Brian Andries

Unit: Allied Land Command

The prevailing challenge throughout the history of human conflict is its continuous evolution. Whether spurred by technological innovation, the refinement or the subversion of tactics, or - most usually - a mixture of both, military strategists and theorists attempt to envision the wars of tomorrow in order to guide preparations today. The NATO Alliance puts this concept to action via plans such as NATO 2030 and conferences on armament, training and exercise development. While focusing exclusively on the fresh frontier of space or the covert intricacies of cyber may be tempting, the truth is all domains must develop, integrate and innovate together, and the strategic necessity of securing the land will not diminish.

The integrity of NATO territory and the safety of its people relies on the linkage of all domains through joint operational planning and training. Within joint operations, NATO land forces enhance air, sea, space and cyber domains to achieve maximal impact. The most fundamental capability NATO land forces provide to its counterparts is the securing of physical space for projection of air, sea, space and cyber platforms. A rapid and comprehensive response to any crisis is key to our Alliance integrity, and Russia has proven itself to be the greatest threat.

With this in mind, NATO established four enhanced Forward Presence multinational battlegroups in 2014 and an additional four enhanced Vigilance Activity battlegroups in 2022 along its eastern flank. The bulk of these elements are land forces which train and integrate with host nation forces to enhance interoperability and are composed of infantry, armour, air defence, reconnaissance, rotary wing, artillery, military police and logistics assets.

CINCU, Romania - Soldiers assigned to US Army 3rd Platoon 'C' 25th Cavalry, drive a M1-A2 Abrams tank during a demonstration for NATO Exercise Steadfast Defender 2021. 
Photo by Joint Force Command - Naples

While the battlegroups are NATO's endearing tactical capability along its eastern border, NATO Force Integration Units (NFIU) help facilitate the reception staging and onward movement (RSOM) of larger follow-on forces. Without contributing to the security of the Alliance territory with battlegroups, the ability to project military might at sea and in the air would not be feasible. Without the establishment of NFIUs, the complex action of deploying NATO's larger follow-on elements would be near impossible.

Initially, the operational domains are easy to define and discern, but where one begins and the other ends, in the physical and operational sense, may be hard to determine. NATO land forces contribute to the linkage between domains in order to eliminate "operational seams" through tactical and operational Air, Sea and Land Integration. At the tactical level, this involves units from the various domains exercising together in multi-domain scenarios.

You may fly over a land forever; you may bomb it, atomize it, and wipe it clean of life - but if you desire to defend it, protect it, and keep it for civilization, you must do this on the ground, the way the Roman Legions did - putting your soldiers in the mud.

^{T. R. Fehrenbach}

The long-standing maritime-focused exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) features units across the maritime, air, and land domains to strengthen combined response capabilities necessary to ensure regional security and stability. For example, precision naval gunnery fired on targets ashore to support amphibious or land forces operations, and helicopters acted as spotters and coordinated fires with elements on land. At the operational level, a two-star led Air-Land Integration steering group was established to maintain purposeful collaboration between the two components, resulting in the establishment of a permanent Land Liaison Element at AIRCOM Headquarters.

French JTAC interacts with French and UK soldiers during Exercise BOLD DRAGON involving UK, Estonia, France and Denmark of enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup Estonia. Photo by UK Ministry of Defence

French soldiers with the 1st Infantry Regiment fire their mortars near Rena, Norway during Exercise Brilliant Jump 2022. 
Photo by NATO

Canadian soldiers approach a target building during urban operations training in Adazi, Latvia. The Canadian troops are deployed to Latvia, where they lead a multinational battlegroup, as part of NATO's enhanced Forward Presence. 
Photo by NATO

NATO land forces are trained, equipped and geographically positioned to deter and defeat even the greatest of threats in the land domain. The largest entity in the Alliance's territorial defence is the NATO Response Force (NRF), which is a highly ready and technologically advanced multinational element consisting of land, air, maritime and special operations forces (SOF) components. Designed to respond to an emerging crisis, this force is currently comprised of 40,000 troops, but will increase to over 300,000 according to remarks made at the NATO Summit in Madrid at the end of June in 2022. This role rotates annual throughout NATO's pool of High Readiness Forces Headquarters of land, air and maritime domains, as well as special operations and logistic elements. NATO Allied Land Command certifies the land corps as ready and capable of rapid deployment after a year-long training and certification process, culminating in a 10-day exercise to test the corps' capabilities in Article 5 and below-Article 5 scenarios. In 2022, Rapid Reaction Corps France (RRC FRA) was a land command and control element and was deployed along NATO's eastern flank in response to Russia's war in Ukraine.

And lastly, a unique difference between the land domain and others is the expectation to be in continuous direct contact with the adversary, parties of the conflict, as well as civilian populations. Whether in a kinetic Article 5 urban operation, a peace-support operation or during a training mission like NATO Mission Iraq, upholding NATO principles of promoting peace, safety and security through our actions when living and working amongst stakeholders is crucial to operational success and maintaining NATO's standing across the world.

The land domain is the oldest domain of conflict, and all others have developed out of it. Without ensuring the security of NATO's borders, bases, structures and facilities with dedicated land forces, we cannot leverage our capabilities in the air, at sea, through cyber and space. Conversely, NATO's land forces in today's complex operational environment cannot operate effectively without coordinating and synchronizing efforts across the domains. So while historian T. R. Fehrenbach stressed the importance of having soldiers in the mud to defend territory, they better have close air support, a carrier strike group, cyber defence and satellite infrastructure to hold it.