Interview with Jean-Paul Paloméros, former Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (Norfolk), Paris
Hartmut Bühl: General Paloméros, after serving as Chief of General Staff of the French Air Force, in 2012 you were the first European to become NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) in Norfolk. What was your mission?
Jean-Paul Paloméros: The mission of the SACT is first and foremost to prepare and adapt NATO military forces for the future. I developed my vision of transformation as a continuous thread running from the past to the future. There are many lessons learnt from NATO’s history and engagements that influence the present and the future. Considering its present strengths and weaknesses, the aim of NATO transformation is to brainstorm the future geostrategic environment to orient the development of its members’ military capabilities.
Nannette Cazaubon: NATO has always adapted to new situations. For instance, when Germany became a member in 1954 and again, when France withdrew from the integrated military command in 1966. Why was a more comprehensive reform needed in 2003?
J.-P. Paloméros: The establishment of the Allied Command Transformation (ACT) some years after the end of the cold war was the outcome of a thorough analysis of the pace of evolving new threats, new technologies, as well as the integration of new member countries from the former Warsaw pact. Since its inception therefore, in full synergy with Allied Command Operations (ACO) in charge of operational planning, command and control of NATO operations, ACT has always provided a unique, complementary and forward-looking pillar to NATO.
Bühl: After a planning phase, the actual reforms were mostly implemented by you as SACT a decade later, starting in 2012. What were the key structural reforms?
J.-P. Paloméros: Since the foundation of ACT, each of my predecessors has made his own unique contribution to NATO’s transformation. Therefore, when I took over my command in 2012,
I tried to capitalise as much as possible on this outstanding legacy. From my former experience as French Airforce chief facing a new operational environment, I felt the need to cast a light into the future through a new Strategic Foresight Analysis, followed by a new Framework for NATO Future Military Operations. In addition, ACT made an impressive effort to develop a dynamic training and exercises policy to better prepare NATO’s forces for the ever-changing operational environment and new threats.
Cazaubon: And have they proven themselves?
J.-P. Paloméros: My successors have been able to take the full benefit from these initiatives to consider the detailed impact of our projects on the future, prioritise Allies’ capability development and foster innovation. Therefore, in terms of future technologies integration and operational digital transformation, ACT is providing a unique contribution to experimentation and integration.
Bühl: As I see it, the overall effort was tantamount to a covert withdrawal by the US armed forces, which have significantly reduced their operational profile, i.e., their operational readiness in Europe. How did the Europeans in NATO react?
J.-P. Paloméros: Since the creation of NATO in 1949, the US has been a key contributor to the Alliance. That was perfectly understandable at the time as Western European countries were exhausted by the war and had to rebuild their military forces. However, the first Supreme Commander of NATO, General Dwight Eisenhower, stressed the need for Europeans to take their full share of the collective defence “burden”, as US forces were engaged in the Korean war.
Bühl: This question became even more sensitive in the aftermath of the cold war when European countries were prompt to take the so-called peace dividend and dramatically reduce their defence budgets.
J.-P. Paloméros: You are quite right and, in addition, as you will remember, the opening up of NATO to former Warsaw Pact countries at the Prague summit in 2002 increased the scope of NATO responsibilities while contributing limited capabilities.
Cazaubon: So, it all came down a question of capabilities in a changing environment around Europe?
J.-P. Paloméros: It was in answer to this crucial issue, that, at the Heads of States “Wales summit” in 2012, the ACT proposed a more ambitious and balanced approach to capability development summarised in the pledge of 2% of GDP for defence budgets agreed by all NATO members states.
Cazaubon: A pledge which is still not fulfilled by all nations… as Europeans face new geopolitical challenges.
J.-P. Paloméros: Yes, and at a time when the US is again facing the challenge of an ever more demanding geostrategic environment in Europe, in the Middle East and in Asia. Europe at large must shoulder its responsibilities in terms of a “Europe of defence and security”.
Bühl: ACT was tasked not only with fostering technological developments and making them usable for the armed forces, but also with building on experience from operations. If you look back today, were these aspects of the reform successfully implemented?
J.-P. Paloméros: Thanks to the superb work of the Joint Analysis Lessons Learned Center (JALCC) in Lisbon, a key pillar of ACT, NATO is second to none in integrating lessons identified in the overall transformation process. All these inputs are checked in a very demanding training and exercise programme, designed equally by ACT, in full cooperation with ACO and the end user. The work of JALCC is also crucial in assessing the potential deficiencies in terms of interoperability or combat support functions.
Cazaubon: The NATO reforms also included the establishment of Centres of Excellence. One of the best known is the Cyber
Centre in Estonia. What is the overall impact of these centres?
J.-P. Paloméros: The NATO certified Centres of Excellences (CoEs), such as the well-known Estonian Cyber CoE, have become keys assets in the NATO inventory. They represent a valuable and tangible contribution from the host nations, which put a lot of effort into leading and supporting them. It must be stressed that these CoEs are open to NATO partners and other nations’ contributions. In order to optimise the missions and the output of each CoE, ACT is responsible for coordinating and synergising their efforts.
Cazaubon: NATO-EU relations are essential to European security and defence, but some nations seem to prefer to rely on NATO rather than on a future European Security and Defence Union. How do you view this development?
J.-P. Paloméros: The strengthening of NATO-EU cooperation has been one of my priorities during my tenure and has led to a large number of proposals for improvement, from the strategic level down to the tactical one. Over these years, many efforts have been made to extend the boundaries of this cooperation. However, some nations are very sensitive to exchanges of confidential information between NATO and the EU. The integration of Finland and potentially Sweden into NATO should be an incentive to foster stronger NATO-EU cooperation.
H. Bühl: General Paloméros, we are most grateful for this insightful conversation.
General (ret) Jean-Paul Paloméros
is a retired French Air Force General who qualified as a fighter pilot in 1976 and graduated from the UK Royal Air Force Staff College, Bracknell, in 1993. General Paloméros led the French Air Force’s Plans and Programme Division and served as Head of the Air Force from 2009 to 2012, before beeing appointed by NATO as its Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SATC) in Norfolk, Virginia, where he served until 2015.
