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BRUSSELS, Belgium – Vice Admiral Keith Blount, Commander, Allied Maritime Command, (MARCOM) hosted the first NATO’s AMPHIBIOUS LEADERS EXPEDITIONARY SYMPOSIUM (NALES), held this Tuesday the 18th, at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels. The relevance of Amphibious capabilities to support NATO missions was presented to an audience of more than 100 people including 18 Military Representatives (MilReps), 2 deputies and 40 flag officers.

An innovative thinking on amphibious warfare capabilities was discussed by the high level representatives within the NATO structure. Amphibious warfare is an important part of an overall deterrence posture and simultaneously can play key roles in peace time.

Amphibious ships and landing forces offer a number of choices in peace, crisis and conflict. They form a highly versatile capability, equally at home conducting capacity building, offering a platform for experimentation, or in delivering troops across the beach. 

Important point in the discussions was to optimise the coordination of amphibious forces among Allied Nations, to be able to deliver competitive advantage from the sea through the planning cycle, in exercises and potentially in real operations.

Panoramic of the meeting room during the Conference at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

“Amphibious ships and landing forces offer a number of choices in peace, crisis and conflict. They form a highly versatile capability, equally at home conducting capacity building, offering a platform for experimentation, or in delivering troops across the beach.” said Admiral Keith Blount. “This conference has accelerated our understanding of how we can best develop this capability within NATO. It has been a great success”.