Brunssum, The Netherlands – On 13th and 14th April, the German Deputy Chief of Defence, Lieutenant General Markus Laubenthal, together with the Commander of NATO's Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC), Lieutenant General Alexander Sollfrank, visited Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFCBS).
Our work as one team including the nations will be continued in order to adapt to the evolving NATO posture
Commander JFCBS, General Jörg Vollmer, welcomed the two German Generals for briefings by JFCBS Senior Staff on topics including the Russian illegal invasion of Ukraine and the role of JFCBS. The Generals also conducted individual programmes relevant to their respective areas of interest.
COM JSEC met with the Deputy Commander of Joint Logistic Support Group (JLSG) Headquarters Brunssum, Colonel Wolfgang Lankow of the German Armed Forces. After receiving a brief on JLSG's mission, Lt Gen Sollfrank congratulated the HQ on its progress in the two years since being established, saying, "The progress made by both JSEC and JLSG HQ Brunssum to enable the movement and sustainment of forces on an operational and tactical level has been excellent. Our work as one team including the nations will be continued in order to adapt to the evolving NATO posture."
Meanwhile, General Laubenthal took the opportunity of his first visit to JFC Brunssum to exchange with the German National Support Element (NSE) of JFC Brunssum, where he was welcomed by the Head of the NSE, Colonel Günter Thiermann. He received a brief on the activities of the NSE in support of German personnel deployed to JFCBS, JLSG Brunssum, and numerous other units across NATO nations in Northern Europe. "I was very pleased to see how committed our servicemen and women are in serving for a strong and resilient Alliance. Especially in the face of the Russian aggression it is essential to NATO to rely on such motivated and qualified personnel here in Brunssum", he underlined after his visit.
Note 1: Germany fills around a hundred posts in JFCBS out of a total of circa 840 positions, making it one of the larger troop contributing nations to the Headquarters. This contribution ranges from Corporal to 4-star General, with General Vollmer as the present Commander. German personnel from all services and branches work throughout the HQ, and General Laubenthal underlined the ongoing commitment of the Bundeswehr to JFCBS and JLSG.
Note 2: The Joint Support and Enabling Command is a multinational NATO Headquarters, which reports to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium. JSEC's mission is to enable NATO to reinforce and sustain military forces in the Euro-Atlantic area. JSEC has Alliance-wide, overarching responsibilities for logistics in not only the land, air and sea domains, but also cyber and space. JSEC particularly focuses on troop deployment and support by Host Nations on a strategic level, as well as sustaining reinforcements - in peacetime, crisis and conflict. Established in May 2020, consisting of nearly 80 staff from 14 nations, JLSG HQ Brunssum is an 'in-theatre Logistics Command Headquarters within the NATO Command Structure, which works in close coordination with JSEC. JLSG HQ Brunssum is co-located with JFCBS, and represents a joint, force generated, deployable logistic capability. When activated, it provides tactical-level Command and Control of logistics forces for the delivery of a joint logistic support network.