France takes over the command of NATO’s highest-readiness military force, Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) as of January 1, 2022.
NATO’s VJTF, established in 2014 to respond to the Middle East crisis and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. It acts as a permanently available force to move within days to defend any ally. The VJTF is the highest-readiness element of NATO’s Response Force and contains 3,500 French and German troops and altogether 40,000 soldiers.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said “I thank France for leading NATO’s rapid reaction force in 2022. The Very High Readiness Joint Task Force is a substantial contribution to our collective defence, and France’s leadership is a strong display of commitment and capabilities. At a time of unprecedented security challenges, there must be no misunderstanding about NATO’s resolve: we stand together to defend and protect all Allies.”
“Led by the Rapid Reaction Corps – France, based in Lille, the Franco-German Brigade is a binational unit, which testifies to the solid bond uniting the two members of the Alliance which are Germany and France,” NATO highlighted.
The 1st Infantry Regiment and 3rd Hussar Regiment under the French-German Brigade will become the “hard core” of the VJTF in 2022. NATO’s joint force command in Brunssum, the Netherlands, holds the command for the entire NATO Response Force in 2022.
NATO release read: “The leadership of the VJTF, which places soldiers on high readiness status and ready to deploy in days, rotates annually among Allies. France takes over from Turkey, which led the force in 2021. Germany will lead the unit in 2023.
The French-German Brigade is led by the French Rapid Reaction Force in Lille. Other NATO members, including Portugal, Spain, and Poland would also provide troops, and most of the soldiers are composed of units from the leading brigade.
