Visit to Spanish Chief of Defence and NRF18 Special Operations Component Command

Madrid, Spain - Commander JFC Brunssum, General Riccardo Marchiò, made an official visit to Spain, 31 May. Whilst in country he met with the Spanish Chief of Defence (General Fernando Alejandre, a former Deputy Commander JFC Brunssum) and paid a visit to the NATO Response Force (NRF) 2018 Special Operations Component Command (SOCC),that is provided by Spain.

In his meeting with General Alejandre the JFC Brunssum Commander covered a wide range of issues impacting southern Europe and the Alliance as a whole but also seized the opportunity to pay tribute to Spain‘s enduring commitment to NATO‘s major lines of effort.

At the SOCC General Marchiò met with Major General Jaime Iñiguez, Commander of the unit, and was briefed on the structure and activities of that organization. The NRF 2018 SOCC is provided, for the first time, by the Spanish Joint Special Operations Command (MCOE, in accordance with its Spanish acronym) with Spain as the framework nation. The SOCC staff consists of personnel from 10 nations; its task organization includes 9 Special Operations Task Groups (SOTG) from 6 different nations. The SOCC is one of the pillars - together with the air, land and sea - of the NRF, established by the Alliance in 2002 as a high readiness force.

JFC Brunssum is the standby NRF command for 2018 and is supported by the following command and control elements: NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Italy (Land), French Maritime Force (Maritime), German Joint Force Air Command (Air) and Spanish Joint Special Operations Command (Special Forces). This means that, if the NRF is activated at any point during 2018 JFC Brunssum will assume command of it and be supported by these special and single service commands. 

Story by JFC Brunssum Public Affairs Office