NATO Situation Centre (SITCEN)

16 Dec. 2013 NATO

The NATO Situation Centre (SITCEN) is designed to provide situational awareness and alerting to the North Atlantic Council and the Military Committee in fulfilling their respective functions during peace, in periods of tension and crisis and for high level exercises. This is to be achieved through the receipt, exchange and dissemination of information from all available internal and external sources.

Working Mechanism

The SITCEN is uniquely positioned between the civilian International Staff and the International Military Staff of NATO Headquarters. Its staff consists of both civilian and military personnel.

The Secretary General, acting for the Council, has responsibility for the overall policy, general organization and effective functioning of the SITCEN. The Assistant Secretary General for Operations, on behalf of the Secretary General, is the senior staff official responsible for the development and control of the SITCEN. The Director General of the International Military Staff, acting for the Military Committee, is responsible for the co-ordination of the operations of the Centre with the Chief of the SITCEN. For day to day operations, this will be carried out on the Director General’s behalf by the Director Operations, IMS.

The SITCEN has an Admin Support/Registry office and one branch: the Watch Staff Support Branch.

The Admin Support/Registry office is the SITCEN central point for Information Management and control, training co-ordination and financial management.

The Watch Staff Support Branch is responsible for the receipt, exchange and dissemination of political, economic, terrorist and military information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Watch Staff Support Branch also provides geographic information services to NATO Headquarters and acts as a focal point for GEO matters in support of senior decision-makers, task forces and exercises.