Brunssum, Netherlands - The Commander Joint Force Command Brunssum, General Salvatore Farina, traveled to London 06 December to meet with the UK Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, and the Vice Chief of Defence Staff, General Sir Gordon Messenger.  

General Farina also had the opportunity to meet with Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone, Commander of Allied Maritime Command, Major General Stuart Skeates, Commander, UK Joint Expeditionary Force, Rear Admiral Alex J. Burton, Commander UK Maritime Forces, and Air Vice-Marshal Gary Waterfall, Chief of Staff (Operations), Permanent Joint Force HQ.

General Farina’s visit to the UK comes during a period of global unpredictability and increased strategic challenges for NATO, and was a great opportunity for the senior leaders to share their thoughts on the UK’s role in supporting NATO’s mission to promote security and stability.  One of the main topics of discussion was the 2016 Warsaw Summit decision to establish a NATO forward presence in the eastern and southeastern parts of Alliance territory.  Enhanced forward presence represents a significant commitment by Allies, and the UK’s contribution as a framework nation for the multinational presence in Estonia is essential to strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defence posture.

General Farina expressed his appreciation to Air Chief Marshal Peach for the UK’s contribution to NATO, and specifically to JFC Brunssum, stating: "the quantity and quality of the men and women that the UK provides to JFC Brunssum has consistently been very high.”  

Additional topics of discussion included the UK’s role in the Enhanced NRF, exercise planning and execution, the continued support to the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, and the role of the NATO Force Structure from an operational commander’s perspective.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach expressed his appreciation to General Farina for his role as JFC Commander, and pledged his full support to the JFC Brunssum mission.

 

On 7 December, General Farina participated in Exercise ARRCADE NELSON 2016, an annual conceptual study seminar held at Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) in Innsworth, UK.   During the seminar, the audience was presented with a range of views from senior leaders on rebuilding ARRC’s warfighting capability as a corps.  General Farina provided his perspective as a Joint Operational Commander on the role of the NATO Force Structure in the framework of enhanced forward presence and graduated response.  General Farina stressed the importance of the ARRC to NATO, stating that "the NATO Force Structure is paramount to NATO’s deterrence mission, from peacetime through crisis and in conflict.”