General Paloméros visited Great Britain Feb. 5 – Feb. 6 meeting with several military leaders and policy makers to discuss Great Britain's contribution with NATO and strengthening the Alliance.

The visit was hosted by Chief of Defence Staff General Sir David Richards.

During his two-day visit, General Paloméros visited the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London and Maritime Command and Joint Forces Command in Northwood.

SACT held meetings at the MOD with General Sir Richards; Dr. Andrew Murrison, Minister for International Security Policy; the single service Chiefs and other senior officials. He also participated in roundtable discussions on various topics of Great Britain and NATO interest such as the Connected Forces Initiative, Cooperation and Engagement, training, education and exercises.

As a result of Great Britain's implementation of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010, there have been significant changes in the size and structure of the Ministry of Defence as well as work on a simpler and more effective Defence organisation.

During his visit to Maritime Command Northwood, which is now following the reorganisation of the NATO command structure, including responsibility for all NATO maritime forces and for planning and conducting all NATO maritime operations, SACT met the Commander; Admiral Sir George Zambellas, who is also Great Britain's Commander-in-Chief Fleet and who will become the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in April 2013.

General Paloméros finished his visit with a presentation of the Joint Forces Command which is a major part of the MOD's Transforming Defence programme. The Joint Forces Command was established to ensure that a range of vital military capabilities, functions and organisations - such as medical services, training and education, intelligence, and cyber - are organized and managed effectively and efficiently to support success on operations.

General Paloméros praised Great Britain as "one of the most invaluable founding members of the Alliance and one of its leading nations". He also thanked leaders for their strong support to multinational approaches in delivering capabilities to NATO.

Great Britain is one of the largest contributors to NATO, both in terms of budget and troops. It is also one of the few Alliance nations that contribute to all NATO operations and missions, and it has been the second largest contributor to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with more than 9,000 troops.