BRUSSELS - The first units as part of NATO's Rapid Deployable Corps, "the Tip of the Spear," must be fully ready to perform missions as early as next year, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Dec. 2.
The decision to create a military group capable of responding to an external threat within the shortest period of time was made at the alliance’s September summit. The initiative was a response to growing tensions in eastern Ukraine.
Until recently, the assumption was that NATO’s rapid-reaction forces could be put on high alert, if need be, within 30 days. After the September summit, the member states agreed to cut this time period – primarily, for the forward units of the Tip of the Spear vanguard force – down to a few days, according to the Deutsche Welle radio station.
In all, the rapid deployable corps will include between 3,000 and 5,000 troops.
Germany has already pledged its contingent for the entity. A mechanized infantry battalion based in Marienberg, Saxony, will join the military grouping in 2015. The backbone of the forward group will be represented by a German-Dutch Corps based in Munster.
