By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

The standup of C2F and Allied JFC Norfolk has occurred as allies are significantly reworking their approaches to deterrence and warfighting in the North Atlantic at the same time. It is the blend of the U.S. efforts with those of the allies which is shaping a 21^st century approach to integrated defense in support of Western interests.

While the United States has significant elements of the Western defense forces to bring to bear, allies are key players in reshaping North Atlantic defense as well. This is in terms of force modernization, local knowledge and, certainly, in the case of the Nordics a profound understanding of how both to work with the Russians as well as the need to take them very seriously as an authoritarian threat to their neighborhood.

For the Nordics, the Russians are a very close Naval and Air Force in being. In naval warfare, a “fleet in being” is a naval force that extends a controlling influence without ever leaving port. A “fleet in being” can be part of a sea denial doctrine, but not one of sea control.

During our visit to Norfolk in March 2021, we had a chance to talk with RDML Staale Pedersen, head of Allied JFC Norfolk, Operations.[1] The RADML is an experienced maritime officer who has been in the Norwegian Navy since 1985. He has had one FFG command, with three different ships but with the same crew. He has done eight Stanavforlant/SNMG 1 tours with NATO. Four of these tours included operations, including counter piracy and counter terrorism. Of those four operations, he was CO on two of them. He has extensive experience at the Norwegian Joint HQ  as well was head of future operations, submarine operations and ASW. His sea fairing domain knowledge is formidable, and he brings that hard earned experience to play in the efforts of both C2F and JFC Norfolk.

As he put it: “When you look at the Western navies operating in the Atlantic, you see several blue dots on the ocean. Our task is to ensure that those blue dots are aware of what each of them is doing and to bring them into a more integrated operational force.”

He sees this as crucial for deterrence, and if necessary, warfighting to ensure U.S. and Allied integrated balance in the region. For the Norwegians, there is clear concern with the threat of Russian coercion, but also significant understanding that Russia is a neighbor important to work through a number of key shared challenges as well.

This question of balance was put very well in an interview done in 2017 in Norway with the head of security policy in the Norwegian Department of Defence.

As Keith Eikenes, Director, Department for Security Policy and Operations in the Ministry of Defence of Norway, put it:

“Our policy is to engage with Russia where it’s possible, and we do have examples of pragmatic good cooperation that we’ve had historically, and in some areas, that it’s still ongoing. For example, we cooperate on safety incidents at sea, and on fisheries with regard to common management, and cooperation. We also have border guard cooperation, so there are certainly areas where we can have a pragmatic cooperation as well.”

He made this point after underscoring the change which he saw over the past three years, that is from 2014 through 2017. “When I was in Washington, we were primarily focused on out of area operations, counter insurgency and counter terrorism.

Now with the Crimean crisis and the modernization of Russian forces, questions of national defense and protecting the North Atlantic have returned to the fore.

We are seeing a Russia that is becoming less predictable, more assertive about its interests, and also, undergoing a fundamental military in modernization, which makes it far more militarily capable than it was. And indeed, Russia is modernizing more rapidly than many anticipated.

And those new capabilities are being joined to a growing debate about sea control and sea denial strategy.”

The sense of balance suggested by Eikenes profoundly came through in our discussion with the Norwegian Admiral. He saw the standup of the two commands in Norfolk as a crucial step forward in working integration, and in his time there, welcomed the kind of subject expertise resident in C2F being made available to JFC Norfolk. He was focused on JFC Norfolk build up  to deliver the kind of integrated force capabilities required for operational deterrence.

In particular, he noted that the Norwegians, the British and the Danes were enhancing national maritime domain awareness operations and saw an very important role for JFC Norfolk in working a more integrated joint surveillance operational approach.

The Admiral was very much  focused on concrete effects which current forces can create and developing ways to enhance what extant forces can do together. He saw the standing up of an operational NATO command on U.S. territory as an important contributor to shaping better understanding on the U.S. side of what allies bring specifically to the operational capabilities in Atlantic operations.

“We are focused on joint effectiveness; we are pioneers in this process and the two commands working this is a key driver for the right kind of change.”

We have significant respect for our Nordic colleagues, and in the joint book by Laird and Delaporte, a significant part of the book focuses on their renewed defense efforts since 2014. And we both attended a unique symposium in Copenhagen in 2015 which certainly highlighted one Nordic country’s way ahead with regard to modernization, but clearly in the alliance context.

On April 17, 2015, a joint symposium on the evolution of airpower was co-sponsored by The Sir Richard Williams Foundation (Australia) and the Centre for Military Studies of the Department of Political Science of the University of Copenhagen. Both organizations are partners with Second Line of Defense.

This was an unusual conference given that it launched an Australian effort to broaden the working relationship with non-Asian partners in shaping new approaches to airpower and was, in turn, the beginning of a broader intellectual outreach by the Danish Centre as well.

While 21st Century Technology Training and Tactics were being discussed in Copenhagen, it was important to have a moment of historic humility as well.

Earlier Viking heroic nautical efforts are still being honored with original long boats displayed in a famous Danish museum. Fortunately, because of the nature of cold-water preserving wood the Danes have a brilliant museum paying homage to the undaunted nautical courage of all Nordic countries. The epic Viking heritage begin a thousand years ago. Open Viking “long boats” challenged the North Atlantic and ultimately around to the Mediterranean. To see the exact size of their vessels is amazing in contemplating the courage it took to challenge sea states of the North Atlantic.

Taking a Viking fleet across the North Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland and ultimately North America was a legendary and courageous naval endeavor. And today the geography of the ocean that Vikings crossed is still of huge strategic importance. Fast forward to the 21st Century  and make no mistake  2nd Fleet commanders know the importance of the geography of their area of operations in protecting strategic sea commerce both east west and with the opening of Artic passages, north and south.

In short, the Nordics have much to contribute to better U.S. understanding of the evolving challenges from the High North and the expanded Atlantic defense geography.

Featured photo: NORFOLK (Feb. 20, 2020) Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, Commander, U.S. Second Fleet, met with Rear Adm. Nils Andreas Stensønes, Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy, during a visit to Norfolk, Feb. 20. U.S. 2nd Fleet’s mission is to develop and employ maritime forces across multiple domains in the Atlantic and Arctic in order to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., allied and partner interests.(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua M. Tolber

This story was published by C2F on February 21, 2020 with regard to the visit of a senior Norwegian delegation to the fleet:

A Norwegian delegation of military officers, led by Rear Adm. Nils Andreas Stensønes, Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy, held a key-leader engagement with U.S. 2nd Fleet and Joint Force Command Norfolk leaders aboard Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, Feb. 20, 2020.

The Norwegian delegation participated in bilateral multilevel discussions with Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, Commander Joint Force Command Norfolk and U.S. 2nd Fleet, as well Rear Adm. Andrew Betton, Deputy Commander, Joint Force Command Norfolk and Rear Adm. Steve Waddell, Vice Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet, to discuss areas for cooperation as the two navies continue to enhance integration and cooperation.

“Our relationship with Norway is critical to naval operations,” said Lewis. “Norway is a key maritime partner and by working together, we will surely improve maritime security and prosperity while strengthening the relationship between our navies. Our meeting today provided an important opportunity for us to solidify our foundation and align our focus on shared interests in support of a stable maritime environment.”

International partnerships run deep within the makeup of 2nd Fleet. As the U.S. Navy’s newest Fleet, 2nd Fleet leverages the diversity of thought that comes with the integration of allies and partners.

These partners not only serve in an advisory role, they integrate into senior-staff level positions. Currently, 2nd Fleet has officers from Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and Norway, holding positions as fleet planners, logisticians, and operators.

“Having perspectives from other nations is invaluable and provides immeasurable insight and expertise,” said Lewis. “With them, they bring knowledge from their own naval experiences, and they help bridge the gaps in our own understanding while strengthening the relationships that are central to mission accomplishment.”

C2F exercises operational and administrative authorities over assigned ships, aircraft, and landing forces on the East Coast and the Atlantic. When directed, C2F conducts exercises and operations within the U.S. European Command AOR as an expeditionary fleet, providing NAVEUR an additional maneuver arm to operate forces dynamically in theater.

[1] In U.S terms, he is a one-star Admiral but in Norway as in the UK, he is identified as Commodore (CDRE).

Editor’s Note: Below is the briefing which Ed Timperlake gave to the Copenhagen conference in 2015.

And clearly what Vice Admiral Lewis has understood is that the Nordics have domain competencies which the United States simply does not have and by working C2F properly with the Allied Command, the right kind of operational capabilities can be forged to deal with the High North challenges.

By Robbin Laird

Recently, the latest large deck carrier was at sea with the ITS Cavour.  One could describe this as a large deck carrier at sea with a smaller carrier but that would really miss the point.

From the standpoint of what we are seeing with the launch of 2^nd Fleet and JFC Norfolk, the U.S. Navy and the relevant NATO nations are reworking how to shape a distributed integrated force.

And having a significantly redesigned large deck carrier on the U.S. side configured to operate with the fleet differently, and with a small deck carrier operating F-35s off of its deck, these two platforms together deliver new capabilities to the 360 degree combat force.

As I wrote on October 15, 2020:

Although the USS Ford draws on the generations of experience operating large deck carriers, the USS Ford is no more a Nimitz class replacement than the F-35 is a replacement for legacy aircraft.

The ship has a number of capabilities which allow it to have substantial increases in sortie generation rates which allows the ship to deliver mix and match force packages into the expanded battlespace.

And these capabilities will work differently with the fleet, understood more broadly, as inclusive not only of the Navy but with the US Air Force and Marine Corps as well.

The airwing of the future understood as the integratable air wing, new approaches to working fleet wide combat integrability, enhanced capabilities to work with the various elements of the joint and coalition forces more effectively, reworking blue water expeditionary operations, and shaping kill web dynamic targeting options, all provide the strategic context within which the USS Ford will operate.

In other words, it is not just a new ship; it is a new blue water capability empowering maritime and air power to operate in ways symmetrical with the challenges of full spectrum crisis management.

As such, the ship will benefit from the various force structure changes which the United States and its allies are generating but it will also drive further changes in concepts of operations and capabilities as well.

In many ways, it is an untold story.

With the ITS Cavour switching from Harriers to F-35s, its contribution to the coalition force ramps up exponentially. The F-35s operating off of the Cavour can integrate with U.S. and allied forces also flying the F-35.

And with the F-35 global enterprise, the global reach of information surveillance and reconnaissance is significant along with the ability to shape a common operating picture for the kind of time urgent decision making needed for full spectrum crisis management.

As we wrote in 2013 about the coming of the F-35 to the ITS Cavour:

A ship like the Cavour, operating F-35Bs, can form a centerpiece of a maritime operational force or provide overwatch and strike support for an allied coalition force, seen as a distributed force.

Given Italy’s key location in the Mediterranean, its land and sea-based assets can be blended into a more coherent capability to protect Italian interests by more effectively combining its air assets around the F-35.

For example, if one looks at the Mediterranean and considers simply the deployment of three F-35B carriers, the Cavour, the new Queen Elizabeth class or the USS America class, the Mediterranean can be considered under the reach of the air fleet, but one clearly considered not as an end in itself but as integral part of joint and coalition operations.

In the graphic below, a notional intersection of F-35Bs operating off of an Italian carrier with that of the UK with that of the USN-USMC Amphibious Ready Group in the Mediterranean is represented:

The fleet operates by the machines within the plane trading data with one another so that the circles represent a common operating picture over the reach of the multiple flying assets.  The COP provides a setting within which the pilots can operate to shape situational decision making appropriate to the mission.

And the circles are actually 360 degree situational awareness enabled operating areas. The reach throughout the Mediterranean simply from three ships operating their F-35Bs and delivering situational awareness, strike and situational decision-making is significant even without considering the other assets with which the fleet will interconnect with.

In short, the picture is not just about the platforms operating at sea; it is about how they will be able to operate in new and innovative ways moving forward in operating as a distributed itnegrated force.

This indeed is at the heart of the argument in the forthcoming book with Ed Timperlake to be published by USNI press next year.

Note: I have clearly followed the UK large deck carrier program and the UK F-35 engagement for many years.

And these new capabilities are clearly part of what enters a 2^nd Fleet/JFC Norfolk world of distributed integratability.

In a recent USNI News piece, U.K. Armed Forces minister James Heappey was quoted as underscoring the synergy piece.

There is going to be a community of F-35 nations that we would be mad to ignore,” Heappey said in response to a question from USNI News. “We think that our carrier capability is something that we can develop alongside — not just the U.S. — but the Italians, the Japanese and the Australians and many others who are looking at that highly capable aircraft.”

The U.K. has already committed to exercising with the JMSDF during its summer deployment.

This week, the U.K. released its new white paper that outlines the future of its defense force and its push toward modernization of the armed forces, which emphasizes the development of new systems and the divestiture of legacy equipment.

 For the Royal Navy that means decommissioning two Type 23 anti-submarine warfare frigates, and acquiring more new Type 26 and Type 31 frigates and a new support vessel, in addition to forward deploying offshore patrol vessels to take pressure off of higher-end warships.

Additionally, the MoD is expanding its maritime combat forces. “The Royal Navy will invest 40 million pounds more over the next four years to develop our Future Commando Force as part of the transformation of our amphibious forces, as well as more than 50 million pounds in converting a Bay class support ship to deliver a more agile and lethal littoral strike capability,” reads the white paper.

Heappey said the U.K. was taking a page from how the U.S. Marine Corps is reorganizing itself.

“What we’re doing with our Royal Marines is very similar to, uh, some of the innovation that the U.S. Marine Corps is developing and the strength of the relationship, not just forged for Iraq and Afghanistan. But actually over the last hundred years, [the relationship] between the USMC and the Royal Marines is so strong that I would expect to see us developing capability in all sorts of areas. Not just capability, but ideas to how an amphibious force operates in the future,” he said.

 And in our interview with Rear Admiral Betton, the Deputy Commander of Allied Joint Force Command, Norfolk, he clearly underscored why this image of F-35s coming off of the ITS Cavour was significant as well.

As the former commander of the Queen Elizabeth Strike Group, Rear Admiral Betton is very familiar with the coming of the F-35 as an allied capability to Atlantic defense. The USMC has been a key partner of the UK as the Brits have stood up their F-35B capability afloat, have integrated with the British carrier in the North Atlantic and have generated with the new aircraft, new ways to integrate USMC-Naval forces.

Betton also noted that first the Italians and now the Norwegians have brought their F-35s to conduct air patrols from Iceland. Indeed, one could note that the F-35 capability operational today in the North Atlantic is indeed largely allied or put another way, the most advanced combat airpower in the region is provided by the allies.

By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

When you visit 2nd Fleet and JFC Norfolk, you are acutely aware of the key role they play in working together to build out 21st century North Atlantic defense.

Vice Admiral Lewis is the head of both commands, and the two commands work closely together in shaping the kind of integrated distributed force crucial to 21st century warfighting and deterrence.

JFC Norfolk was created at the 2018 Brussels Summit as a new joint operational level command for the Atlantic. It reached an important milestone in September 2020 when it declared Initial Operational Capability.

JFC Norfolk is the only operational NATO command in North America and is closely integrated with the newly reactivated U.S. Second Fleet.

JFC reached its initial operating capability in September 2020.

As a NATO press release dated September 18, 2020 put it:

NATO’s new Atlantic Command was declared operational in a ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia on Thursday (17 September 2020). Joint Force Command Norfolk, established to protect sea lanes between Europe and North America, is the first NATO headquarters dedicated to the Atlantic since 2003.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the milestone, saying: “NATO is a transatlantic Alliance, and the North Atlantic is vital for the security of Europe. Our new Atlantic Command will ensure crucial routes for reinforcements and supplies from North America to Europe remain secure.”

Co-located with the U.S. Second Fleet, the Atlantic Command is led by U.S. Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis. It will provide coherent command arrangements for Allied forces, maintain situational awareness, conduct exercises, and draw up operational plans covering vast geographic areas, from the U.S. East Coast, past the Greenland-Iceland-U.K. gap and into the Arctic.  Day-to-day NATO maritime operations will continue to be run out of Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) in the United Kingdom.

NATO Defence Ministers decided in June 2018 to adapt the Alliance’s command structure with a new Atlantic command in Norfolk, and a command for support and logistics in Ulm, Germany. Joint Force Command Norfolk joins NATO’s two existing Joint Forces Commands, located in Brunssum, Netherlands, and Naples, Italy.

And after JFC became operational, an additional NATO capability was added to the command.

According to an October 1, 2020 C2F story:

Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence (CJOS COE), a NATO-accredited, multi-national military think tank, transferred directorship from the deputy commander of U.S. Fleet Forces (USFF) Command to commander, U.S.  2ndFleet (C2F), Oct. 1.

The transition from Vice Adm. Dave Kriete, deputy commander, USFF, to Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, who is commander, C2F, and dual-hatted as commander, Allied Joint Force Command Norfolk, will strengthen the relationship between CJOS COE and C2F, and build upon previously established networks at USFF.

Established in May 2006, CJOS COE represents 13 nations and is the only COE in the U.S. As one of 26 NATO-accredited centers worldwide, they represent a collective wealth of international experience, expertise, and best practices, critical to operations in the North Atlantic.

“By linking C2F, JFC Norfolk, and now CJOS COE, national and NATO commands will further align, catalyzing the development of modern warfighting capabilities in the North Atlantic, and increasing readiness across the joint force,” said Lewis. “We must be postured to respond to existing multi-domain threats tonight, yet make urgent efforts to adapt now to the new challenges of the security environment of tomorrow.”

The realignment comes shortly after Joint Force Command Norfolk’s initial operational capability ceremony on Sep. 17.

“The important partnership between the Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence (CJOS COE) and the United States Fleet Forces Command has been superb,” said Kriete. “This key relationship will continue between CJOS COE and C2F and help ensure maritime security in the Atlantic.”

U.S. 2nd Fleet, reestablished in 2018 in response to the changing global security environment, develops and employs maritime forces ready to fight across multiple domains in the Atlantic and Arctic in order to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., allied, and partner interests.

“This more direct relationship between CJOS and C2F will enhance allied interoperability and further expand on CJOS COE’s connections with U.S. commands assigned to train, operate, and deploy with NATO maritime forces, said Commodore Tom Guy, Royal Navy, deputy director of CJOS COE. “It is a logical and really welcome step as we collectively work to maintain our warfighting edge in the North Atlantic.”

Vice Admiral Lewis noted at the time of JFC Norfolk reaching its IOC of how important the working relationship between C2F and JFC Norfolk was for shaping a comprehensive and integrated way ahead for Atlantic defense.

“This is the first command of its type within NATO,” Lewis said. “It’s the first command on the continent of North America that NATO has established in a long time.”

 While Lewis leads JFC Norfolk, he noted that his deputy commander is U.K. Royal Navy Rear Admiral Andrew Betton. The command also includes three one-star leadership positions held by one officer from Denmark, one from France, and one from Norway, Lewis said. JFC Norfolk’s chief of staff will toggle between an officer from Spain and Germany. Meanwhile, Lewis’ deputy for his 2nd Fleet command is Canadian Rear Admiral Steve Waddell.

 “JFC Norfolk will make our lives stronger and help defend North America as well as Europe, by providing continued situational awareness across the North Atlantic, deterring aggression, and if necessary, rising to defend our shared values,” Lewis said.

“We will aid [Supreme Allied Commander Europe] in developing — in achieving this 360-degree approach to the collective defense of the allies,” he added. “We will both lead and contribute to NATO contingency planning, actively participate in multi-national exercises, and develop a high readiness capability to respond in the event of an emergency crisis.”

In the next year, as it gears up for full operational capability by the conclusion of 2021, the command will focus on an array of assignments from Supreme Allied Commander Europe, which Lewis said will include planning for different types of exercises.

Specifically, JFC Norfolk will strategize for and participate in a NATO exercise called Steadfast Defender that is slated to take place this summer.

“There’s parts of that in the lead-up to the actual live exercise that will flex the tasking that we need to have to be able to declare full operational [capability],” Lewis said of the exercise.

Betton described Steadfast Defender as an exercise focused on moving forces across the Atlantic Ocean to continental Europe, as the United States and its allies might have to do in the event of a real-world emergency.

“For JFC Norfolk, it is also a key training opportunity for the team here in the headquarters so we can identify our shortfalls, address those, and ensure that we are ready to declare full operational capability later in the year,” Betton said. “So it’s a multi-faceted thing.”

NATO established JFC Norfolk in July 2019, a little over one year after the United States reestablished 2nd Fleet as the Pentagon recalculated its strategy due to Russia’s increased activity in the North Atlantic.

Lewis said NATO has authorized both a new strategy and an execution of that strategy, known as “Deterrence and Defense of the Euro-Atlantic Region.” But the specifics of the strategy are under classification, according to Lewis.

“We’re in . . . lockstep right now in planning toward implementation of that strategy and what that operational concept looks like,” Lewis said. “In fact, there’s a commander’s conference in about a week and a half’s time and that’s the main topic of the commander’s conference. And we have submitted our approach to that from this command already.”

A very good piece by Dave Ress published by The Daily Press on November 12, 2020 provides an overview of how Vice Admiral Lewis and his JFC Norfolk deputy look at the way ahead.

“Joint Force Command Norfolk brings the North Atlantic back to NATO,” Lewis said. “Our space goes from Florida to Finnmark, from the sea bed to satellites in space. … In essence, it is what draws the continents together”

That North Atlantic focus marks a shift from NATO’s traditional land-centered defense of the European continent. “The trans-Atlantic bridge is vital … it connects all the members of the alliance in North America and Europe.” said Joint Force deputy commander, British Rear Adm. Andrew Betton. “What links us all is lying on the bottom of the ocean” he said, referring to the cables that telecommunications and Internet services depend on.

In a sense, the two admirals say, Joint Force Command is responsible for operations in what more and more strategists are calling the Fourth Battle of the Atlantic. The first, in World War I, pitted two relatively new types of ships — submarines and destroyers — the first of which was trying to sink ships bring material and troops to Europe, the second, aiming to protect those troops and goods. The second Battle of the Atlantic, in World War II, introduced widespread use of naval aircraft. The third, during the Cold War, mainly brought NATO and Soviet submarines into confrontation. The fourth, the admirals say, will introduce new domains to defend, including satellites and cyber threats, as well as threats to shipping and commerce that were the main focus of the first two battles and the submarine threats that dominated the third.

The challenges of the North Atlantic are unlike those of other seas, Lewis said. “Right now, we’ve got a hurricane off Key West, ice floes moving fast in the north,” Lewis said. “Up in the High Arctic, with ship communications, we’ve got some physics to think about with satellites, we need to think about line of sight communications … these are dangerous waters.”

The experiences of his colleagues from other nations matter. “The Norwegians are operating all the time up in the Arctic; so is Iceland and Canada,” Lewis said. The British and French have experience with carriers and submarines and with operating them in tandem with the U.S. Navy’s own.

Other navies bring experience in local waters and with smaller ships, deputy commander Betton said, and while “most of our domain is wet, so most of our people are naval” the command includes air force. marine and army personnel from several nations.

As an operational command, Joint Force has to go beyond looking at the the logistics of moving troops and gear to thinking of what needs to to defended, what threats are there, and how to be sure war-fighting resources of the 30 different nations in NATO can be called on to get there and how they will coordinate. “Our job is to say what needs to happen; tactical commands figure out which ships and which soldiers need to be where and do what for that,” Betton said.

The fast-moving command doubled in size over the summer, with a staff that now numbers 88 and will reach 144 when it reaches full capability next year. Its assignment is to create coherent command arrangements for Allied forces, maintain situational awareness, conduct exercises, and draw up operational plans, NATO says.

The command is already working on planning for NATO’s big Steadfast Defender 2021 exercise, which will involve tens of thousands of thousands of troops deploying to several different training spanning Europe.

Joint Force is NATO’s third, geography-defined joint force operation command — and the third NATO unit in Hampton Roads, along with the strategists of Allied Command Transformation and the Combined Joint Operations of the Sea Centre of Excellence. “It’s really important that Norfolk is NATO’s home in North America; that’s something I hope people in Hampton Roads will see,” Lewis said.

Royal Navy Rear Adm. A. Betton, Deputy Commander, JFCNF, (left) and U.S. Vice Adm. A. Lewis, Commander, JFCNF at JFCNF’s Initial Operational Capability ceremony at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Hampton Roads, Virginia – Photo Petty Off. 1st Cl. Th. Green

We had a chance to visit with Rear Admiral Betton during our March 2021 visit to Norfolk.

Laird had already met with and interviewed Betton when he was the Commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group, centered around large deck aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth. I

t is notable that Betton comes to this command as part of the Royal Navy’s significant reworking due to the impact of the new carrier and its onboard F-35s. The Queen Elizabeth class is the only carrier built around the F-35 and for the Brits, it also drives integration between the RAF and the Royal Navy.

Notably, the head of carrier air integration in the MOD is now head of the new UK space command which is clearly suggestive of how the Brits are looking at the way ahead to multi-domain force integration.

The sense we had from the C2F staff of the excitement of working a startup command and innovating from the ground up was underscored as well by Rear Admiral Betton with regard to his command.

“Coming here 18 months ago has been a really exciting professional opportunity, and genuinely a pleasure to have another run at setting up a team pretty much from scratch. The Second Fleet team was well on the way by the time I got here, but the NATO team was just about at conception, but not much beyond that.”

The geography and three-dimensional operational space of the NATO zone of responsibility is  very wide indeed.

As Betton put it: “SACEUR’s area of responsibility, goes all the way from the Yucatan peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico to the North Pole. I’ve always loved the phrase from Finnmark to Florida, or Florida to Finnmark. But it is also important to realize all domain challenges and threats that we face. It’s everything from seabed infrastructure, through the sub sea water column, the surface, the airspace above it, and up into the satellite constellation above that.”

As the former commander of the Queen Elizabeth Strike Group, Rear Admiral Betton is very familiar with the coming of the F-35 as an allied capability to Atlantic defense. The USMC has been a key partner of the UK as the Brits have stood up their F-35B capability afloat, have integrated with the British carrier in the North Atlantic and have generated with the new aircraft, new ways to integrate USMC-Naval forces.

Betton also noted that first the Italians and now the Norwegians have brought their F-35s to conduct air patrols from Iceland. Indeed, one could note that the F-35 capability operational today in the North Atlantic is indeed largely allied or put another way, the most advanced combat airpower in the region is provided by the allies.

Royal Navy Cdre. Andrew Betton, commander of the U.K. Carrier Strike Group, meets with leaders of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Jan. 25, 2017. The VMFA-121 leaders informed Betton about the air station’s F-35B Lightning II’s and taught him about its unique, operational capabilities. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Nathan Wicks)

We also discussed the importance of innovation in the maritime domain awareness NATO community as well. The Brits preserved their ASW skill sets after having cancelled Nimrod and in anticipation of adding the P-8, which is being deployed from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, where there are P-8 facilities for allies as well. The Norwegians are operating P-8s as well. With P-8s and the U.S .Navy operating Triton which operates in an orbital cycle complementary to the sortie generation approach of the P-8s, there is a continuous belt of ASW and anti-surface fleet information being provided for the US and allied forces in the North Atlantic.

These new capabilities have their most important impact in supporting rapid decision-making cycles. The C2F focus on reworking C2 to provide for effective mission command and distributed operations is a key effort for JFC Norfolk as well. And the two staffs work interactively on shaping a way ahead in the crucial C2 domain.

In the recent book by Laird and Delaporte on the return of direct defense in Europe, we highlighted the key importance of “clusters” of key states working specifically on tailored defense tasks, rather than simply considering the Alliance as whole. For Rear Admiral Betton, our notion of the operational clusters of the coalition of the willing is better understood as the operational cluster of the relevant nations.

And there is certainly no greater example of this than the Europeans focused on North Atlantic defense, with the new carrier operational groups for the UK, and enhanced Nordic collaboration in the region.

As Betton put it: “The U.S. is by far the dominant figure of NATO, but it’s not the only piece. And it’s not always just the heavy metal that is relevant. It’s the connectivity, it’s the infrastructure and the architecture that enables the 30 nations of NATO to get so much more than the sum of the parts out of their combined effort. But it’s particularly the relevant nations in the operational area and their ability to work together which is an important consideration.”

The Rear Admiral underscored the importance of the only operational NATO command on U.S. soil. “The idea of integrating it with the second fleet headquarters under a dual hatted command was a fantastic move because it emphasizes bluntly to Europe that the U.S. is fully committed to NATO. It’s not NATO and the U.S., the U.S. is part of NATO. And having an operational headquarters here in CONUS really emphasizes that point in both directions.”

He noted that there are 16 nations at the command currently with three more arriving in the next few months, namely, Portugal, the Netherlands and Bulgaria. It is crucial to shape a better understanding of how central the air-maritime is to NATO defense with the more historical memory of the European landmass as the former epicenter of NATO defense in the Soviet period and with the geographical encirclement which the Warsaw Pact provided against the West European fragment of Europe.

And reworking how to do the most effective defense is also a work in progress.

As Rear Admiral Betton put it: “One of the key efforts we are pursuing in this integrated command is not just stitching together NATO and U.S. assets, but it’s also stitching together teams within teams. It could be the U.S. cooperating with Norway, Sweden, and Finland, with Admiral Lewis commanding a multinational command..

“And a crisis might grow and evolve into something that the North Atlantic Council agree to respond to and therefore activate the JFC to command in a NATO sense.

“But because the Commander has that flexibility to go from a unilateral U.S. only under second fleet, through a growing coalition, there’s the opportunity to coordinate activity with a whole diverse range of entities before it becomes a formal NATO response.”

It is clear that agility and scalability are a key part of the way ahead for 21^st century full spectrum crisis management. And the JFC working in an integrated manner with C2F certainly is working such capabilities. This is a case of startup fleets working core capabilities which are clearly needed across the combat force.

This is why what is happening in Norfolk is certainly of strategic impact and significance.

Featured Photo: U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis and British Royal Navy Rear Adm. Andrew Betton host a ceremony at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, in Norfolk, Va., Sept. 17, 2020, to mark the start of operations of NATO’s Atlantic Command. NATO