Home  /  Media Centre  /  News  /  2021  /  Operation Neptune Interim Building opens in Northwood

Northwood, UNITED KINGDOM - The culmination of some 2 years of planning, design and hard work came to fruition on Friday, 30 April 2021 with the official opening of the Operation Neptune Interim Building by the Commander of NATO Maritime Command (MARCOM), Vice Admiral Keith Blount.

This facility will be home to over 150 MARCOM personnel while the extension to the current Headquarters in Atlantic Building is built.

The construction and planning of the facility has involved a close collaboration with a wide number of stakeholders to deliver the project ready for the expansion of NATO personnel as part of the NATO Command Structure Adaptation (NCS-A) process.

Led by the Senior Responsible Officer, Group Captain Gibson RAF of Strategic Command, Mr Clem Adekoyejo of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation Major Projects and Plans (DIO MPP) team acted as the Project Manager. The construction was directed by the EPL Northwood Site Manager, Ms Zoe Boys, assisted by Mr John Roe and carried out by SKANSKA led by Mr Chris Williams.

This is a major milestone in the NCSA project and another important chapter of MARCOM in the United Kingdom

Vice Admiral Blount said “This is a major milestone in the NCSA project and another important chapter of MARCOM in the United Kingdom”. He thanked all those involved for their hard work and collaborative working and enthused that the important work is yet to come with the building of the permanent extension over the next few years.

NATO's Command Structure (NCS) is the backbone of NATO. It is composed of permanent multinational headquarters at the strategic, operational and component levels of command, distributed geographically and commonly funded. It offers the opportunity to all Allies to participate in, and contribute to, the command and control of all Alliance operations, missions, and activities across all military domains. In full agreement with Allies, the NATO Command Structure continues to adapt to meet the challenges of a complex and evolving security environment.