Logistics support for NATO operations

Logistics is of vital importance for any military operation. Without it, operations could not be
carried out and sustained. This is especially evident with NATO’s out-of-area operations.

The new missions of the Alliance are radically different from those it faced during the Cold War.
NATO has now been involved in out-of-area operations for over a decade. During the 1990s,
these operations were still in Europe, but the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States
led to NATO foreign ministers removing all geographical limits to NATO’s area of operations at
their meeting in Reykjavik in May 2002.

This poses obvious logistic challenges and NATO logistics doctrine is evolving accordingly
while at the same time various initiatives are underway to develop the required capabilities.