NATO International Military Staff welcomes new Director General

24 Jul. 2013 NATO

Brussels – Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper takes over the post of Director General of the NATO International Military Staff from outgoing Director General, Lieutenant General Jürgen Bornemann.

Concluding his 3-year service as Director General of NATO International Military Staff, Lieutenant General Bornemann handed over his post to Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper with a ceremony held at the NATO HQ.

During his tenure, the process of developing and implementing the new NATO command structure, planning of the operation Unified Protector, together with RESOLUTE SUPPORT for Afghanistan post-2014 were some of the efforts he was in charge of heading the military staff.

Upon welcoming Air Marshal Harper to assume his responsibilities, Lieutenant General Bornemann thanked the International Military Staff for all the support and collaboration. “I hope you will provide Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper with the same support that you have provided me,” he concluded.

Following the ceremony, the new Director General addressed to the military and civilian personnel of the International Military Staff. Air Marshal Harper expressed that he viewed it as an immense privilege for him to take up the position of Director General at such a crucial period in NATO’s history. “Against a backdrop of financial challenge and a risky global security environment, the International Military Staff must assist in the management of continued operations in Afghanistan while revitalizing the Alliance’s wider military skills and competences and preparing for a move to NATO’s new, state of the art headquarters building,” he stated.

The International Military Staff is the executive body of the Military Committee, NATO’s senior military authority. It is responsible for preparing the assessments, evaluations and reports on all NATO military matters, which form the basis of discussion and decisions in the Military Committee. The International Military Staff also ensures that decisions and policies on military matters taken by the North Atlantic Council and the Military Committee are implemented by the appropriate NATO military bodies.

The International Military Staff is also the essential link between the political decision-making bodies of the Alliance and NATO’s Strategic Commanders (the Supreme Allied Commander Europe – SACEUR – and the Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation – SACT) and their staffs, liaising closely with NATO’s civilian International Staff located at the same headquarters in Brussels.

On 15 September 2012, the Chiefs of Defence of the 28 NATO nations voted for Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper to become the new Director General of the International Military Staff at NATO Headquarters. The Director General is elected among his peers, the NATO Military Representatives, to head the Alliance’s International Military Staff, for a term of three years.