Supreme Allied Commander Europe

Supreme Allied Commander Europe
Supreme Allied Commander Europe
	Standard
	Incumbent; General Tod D. Wolters; since May 3, 2019
	North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
Abbreviation	SACEUR
Reports to	North Atlantic Council, ; through NATO Military Committee
Seat	Casteau, Mons, Belgium
Nominator	President of the United States, ; with Senate advice and consent
Appointer	North Atlantic Council
Formation	2 April 1951
First holder	General of the Army; Dwight D. Eisenhower
Website	shape.nato.int

The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is based at SHAPE in Casteau, Belgium. SACEUR is the second-highest military position within NATO, below only the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee in terms of precedence.

SACEUR has always been held by a U.S. military officer, and the position is dual-hatted with that of Commander of United States European Command.

The current SACEUR is General Tod D. Wolters of the United States Air Force.

Role[]

The NATO Military Command Structure consists of two strategic commands and is directed by the International Military Staff:^[1]

The commands under SACEUR - Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum, Allied Joint Force Command Naples and Joint Force Command Norfolk are Operational Level Commands, while Headquarters Allied Air Command, Headquarters Allied Maritime Command and Headquarters Allied Land Command are Tactical Level Commands.^[2] SACEUR also has operational command of the Joint Support and Enabling Command.^[3]

Liaison: Provides advice and support to the NAC

Political strategic level:

NA Council

NATO SG
Brussels, BE

IS
Brussels, BE

Military strategic level:

CMC (NATO MC)

(IMS)

Brussels, BE

SACEUR
(ACO, SHAPE)
Mons, BE

SACT
(ACT, HQ SACT)
Norfolk, US

Operational level:

JFCBS Brunssum, NL

JWC Stavanger, NO

AIRCOM Ramstein, DE

JALLC Lisbon, PT

MARCOM Northwood, GB

JFTC Bydgoszcz, PL

LANDCOM İzmir, TR

CIS GP Mons, BE

JFCNP Naples, IT

JFC-NF Norfolk, Virginia, US

List of holders[]

2013 SACEUR change of command at SHAPE

Since 2003 the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) has also served as the head of Allied Command Europe and the head of Allied Command Operations. The officeholders have been:^[4]

No.	Supreme Allied Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch
1	Eisenhower, DwightGeneral of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969)	April 2, 1951	May 30, 1952	1 year, 58 days	United States Army
2	Ridgway, MatthewGeneral Matthew Ridgway (1895–1993)	May 30, 1952	July 11, 1953	1 year, 42 days	United States Army
3	Gruenther, AlfredGeneral Alfred Gruenther (1899–1983)	July 11, 1953	November 20, 1956	3 years, 132 days	United States Army
4	Norstad, LaurisGeneral Lauris Norstad (1907–1988)	November 20, 1956	January 1, 1963	6 years, 42 days	United States Air Force
5	Lemnitzer, LymanGeneral Lyman Lemnitzer (1899–1988)	January 1, 1963	July 1, 1969	6 years, 181 days	United States Army
6	Goodpaster, AndrewGeneral Andrew Goodpaster (1915–2005)	July 1, 1969	December 15, 1974	5 years, 167 days	United States Army
7	Haig, AlexanderGeneral Alexander M. Haig Jr. (1924–2010)	December 15, 1974	July 1, 1979	4 years, 198 days	United States Army
8	Rogers, BernardGeneral Bernard W. Rogers (1921–2008)	July 1, 1979	June 26, 1987	7 years, 360 days	United States Army
9	Galvin, JohnGeneral John Galvin (1929–2015)	June 26, 1987	June 23, 1992	4 years, 363 days	United States Army
10	Shalikashvili, JohnGeneral John Shalikashvili (1936–2011)	June 23, 1992	October 22, 1993	1 year, 121 days	United States Army
11	Joulwan, GeorgeGeneral George Joulwan (born 1939)	October 22, 1993	July 11, 1997	3 years, 262 days	United States Army
12	Clark, WesleyGeneral Wesley Clark (born 1944)	July 11, 1997	May 3, 2000	2 years, 297 days	United States Army
13	Ralston, JosephGeneral Joseph Ralston (born 1943)	May 3, 2000	January 17, 2003	2 years, 259 days	United States Air Force
14	Jones, JamesGeneral James L. Jones (born 1943)	January 17, 2003	December 7, 2006	3 years, 324 days	United States Marine Corps
15	Craddock, BantzGeneral Bantz J. Craddock (born 1949)	December 7, 2006	July 2, 2009	2 years, 207 days	United States Army
16	Stavridis, JamesAdmiral James G. Stavridis (born 1955)	July 2, 2009	May 13, 2013	3 years, 315 days	United States Navy
17	Breedlove, PhilipGeneral Philip M. Breedlove (born 1955)	May 13, 2013	May 4, 2016	2 years, 357 days	United States Air Force
18	Scaparrotti, CurtisGeneral Curtis Scaparrotti (born 1956)	May 4, 2016	May 3, 2019	2 years, 364 days	United States Army
19	Wolters, Tod D.General Tod D. Wolters (born 1960)	May 3, 2019	Incumbent	2 years, 128 days	United States Air Force

Deputy[]

The position of Deputy Supreme Allied Command Europe (DSACEUR) – since 2003 known as deputy head of Allied Command Operations – has been held by the following officers. From January 1978 until June 1993 there were two DSACEURs, one British and one German, but from July 1993 this reverted to a single DSACEUR.

	Name	Term began	Term ended	Branch
1.	Field Marshal the Viscount Montgomery	April 2, 1951	September 23, 1958	British Army
2.	General Sir Richard Gale	September 23, 1958	September 22, 1960	British Army
3.	General Sir Hugh Stockwell	September 22, 1960	January 1, 1964	British Army
4.	Marshal of the RAF Sir Thomas Pike	January 1, 1964	March 1, 1967	Royal Air Force
5.	General Sir Robert Bray	March 1, 1967	December 1, 1970	British Army
6.	General Sir Desmond Fitzpatrick	December 1, 1970	November 12, 1973	British Army
7.	General Sir John Mogg	November 12, 1973	March 12, 1976	British Army
8.	General Sir Harry Tuzo	March 12, 1976	November 2, 1978	British Army
9.	General Gerd Schmückle	January 3, 1978	April 1, 1980	German Army
10.	General Sir Jack Harman	November 2, 1978	April 9, 1981	British Army
11.	Admiral Günter Luther	April 1, 1980	April 1, 1982	German Navy
12.	Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Terry	April 9, 1981	July 16, 1984	Royal Air Force
13.	General Günter Kießling	April 1, 1982	April 2, 1984	German Army
14.	General Hans-Joachim Mack	April 2, 1984	October 1, 1987	German Army
15.	General Sir Edward Burgess	July 16, 1984	June 26, 1987	British Army
16.	General Sir John Akehurst	June 26, 1987	January 17, 1990	British Army
17.	General Eberhard Eimler	October 1, 1987	October 2, 1990	German Air Force
18.	General Sir Brian Kenny	January 17, 1990	April 5, 1993	British Army
19.	General	October 2, 1990	July 1, 1993	German Army
20.	General Sir John Waters	April 5, 1993	December 12, 1994	British Army
21.	General Sir Jeremy Mackenzie	December 12, 1994	November 30, 1998	British Army
22.	General Sir Rupert Smith	November 30, 1998	September 17, 2001	British Army
23.	General Dieter Stöckmann	September 17, 2001	September 18, 2002	German Army
24.	Admiral Rainer Feist	September 18, 2002	October 1, 2004	German Navy
25.	General Sir John Reith	October 1, 2004	October 22, 2007	British Army
26.	General Sir John McColl	October 22, 2007	March 2011	British Army
27.	General Sir Richard Shirreff	March 2011	March 2014	British Army
28.	General Sir Adrian Bradshaw	March 2014	March 2017	British Army
29.	General Sir James Everard	March 2017	April 2020	British Army
30.	General Sir Tim Radford	April 2020	Incumbent	British Army

References[]

^ "Command Structure" (PDF). NATO. Retrieved 19 October 2019. and "Military Command Structure". shape.nato.int. Supreme Head Allied Powers Europe. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
^ "MILITARY COMMAND STRUCTURE". shape.nato.int. NATO. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
^ Boeke, Sergei (13 January 2020). "Creating a secure and functional rear area : NATO's new JSEC Headquarters". nato.int. NATO. Retrieved 9 October 2020. JSEC is part of the NATO Force Structure and under the operational command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).
^ List of Former SACEURs

External links[]

Official website

[1] "Command Structure" (PDF). NATO. Retrieved 19 October 2019. and "Military Command Structure". shape.nato.int. Supreme Head Allied Powers Europe. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.

[2] "MILITARY COMMAND STRUCTURE". shape.nato.int. NATO. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.

[3] Boeke, Sergei (13 January 2020). "Creating a secure and functional rear area : NATO's new JSEC Headquarters". nato.int. NATO. Retrieved 9 October 2020. JSEC is part of the NATO Force Structure and under the operational command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).

[4] List of Former SACEURs

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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