Military Committee & International Military Staff (IMS)

International Military Staff (IMS)

The International Military Staff (IMS) is the executive body of the Military Committee, NATO’s senior military authority.

NATO-Russia military-to-military direct line

15 Feb. 2013

On 14 February 2013, General Knud Bartels, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee and Chairman of the NRC Military Representatives, initiated an historical phone call with Colonel-General Valeriy Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, enhancing military-to-military cooperation and promoting transparency between NATO and Russia.

NATO Generals gain firsthand knowledge of progress

14 Feb. 2013

Gen. Knud Bartels (Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee), Lt. Gen. Jürgen Bornemann (Director General of NATO HQ International Military Staff), and Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper (UK Military Representative to NATO and incoming Director General IMS) visited Afghanistan this week, where they engaged with the Afghan authorities and exchanged views on the security situation on the ground with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Commanders.

Director General IMS awarded the 2012 NATO Meritorious Service Medal

28 Jan. 2013

Lt. Gen. Jürgen Bornemann, Director General of the International Military Staff (IMS), awarded the annual NATO Meritorious Service Medal to Brigadier General Patrick Wouters and Mr. Ieuan Davies for their distinguished service provided to the IMS in 2012 while assigned on NATO duties.

NATO Chiefs of Defence bring transformation to the forefront
16 Jan. 2013 - 17 Jan. 2013
168th NATO Chiefs of Defence meeting on 16 and 17 January
17 Jan. 2013
NATO, Russia Military Chiefs hold talks on Afghanistan, Ballistic Missile Defence and Syria
14 Dec. 2012
General Bartels opens the 38th Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Services plenary session
21 Nov. 2012
IMS civilians awarded the ''Non-Article 5'' medal for service in Afghanistan
19 Nov. 2012

Report by the Chairman

The Military Committee - Report on the engagement of the Military Committee and the International Military Staff in NATO's operations, capabilities and cooperation, and on future challenges and trends.

NATO's military Public Affairs policy

The Military Committee has agreed a new progressive Public Affairs policy, designed to assist military Public Affairs staff support Commanders in their efforts to explain NATO’s military aims and objectives. This policy draws on experiences and lessons learned from all of NATO's operations and missions.

NATO Medals currently in use

In July 1992 for the first time in history of the North Atlantic Alliance, NATO Forces were engaged in operations...

NATO's Military Committee

This brochure describes the work of the Military Committee, the role of the Chairman, the work of the International Military Staff, and how military decisions are arrived at in NATO.

NATO’s Military Committee - focused on operations, capabilities, cooperation, and transformation (.PDF/599Kb)

Cooperative Security as NATO’s Core Task

The new Strategic Concept gives a new flavour to the role of the Alliance, introducing Cooperative Security (CS) as a new core task in addition to the existing collective defence and crisis management.

Building security through military cooperation

Military matters: The beginnings of NATO’s military structure: birth of the Alliance to the fall of the Berlin Wall

More than five decades since its founding, it is hard to imagine that NATO did not always have the complex military and political structures that have long been key features of its decision-making process.