The Allied Command Europe Mobile Force (AMF) was a small

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quick reaction force, headquartered at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, active from 1960 to 2002. It formed part of

Allied Command Europe An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

(ACE), headquartered at

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at Casteau,

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. The land component of the force, consisting of a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

-sized formation of about 5,000 personnel, was composed of units from 14 NATO states. HQ CO US AMF(L) Infantry was at Coleman Barracks, Mannheim, GE 95-02 HQ AMF (L) was at Sullivan Barracks, Mannheim, 1975-78.

ACE Mobile Force (Land)

The ACE Mobile Force-Land or AMF(L) was intended as a multinational force that could be quickly despatched to any part of ACE's command area - from North Norway, to Germany, to eastern Turkey - to demonstrate the solidarity of the alliance and its ability to resist all forms of aggression against any member state. During the Cold War the AMF-L did frequent exercises in North Norway and in other areas. The

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

responded to the request of NATO from December 9, 1960, from January 1961 to provide a paratrooper battalion, a medical company, an airborne telecommunications company, and air transport units. In October 1961 Bundeswehr units, including parts of the 1st Airborne Division (the Parachute Battalion 262) in the AMF in October 1961 in Sardinia during Exercise First Try in part, on the Belgian, British and American soldiers were also involved. In November 1965, the Parachute Battalion 262 took part in the AMF maneuver Eastern Express II on the southeast flank of NATO, which took place in Turkey under the leadership of the AMF commander Major General

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(UK). In total, 3,500 soldiers from the US, UK, Belgium, Germany and Italy participated in the maneuvers. In 1967 the maneuver Sunshine Express in Greece, also with German participation. In 1970 at Narvik in northern Norway on the north flank of NATO, the AMF United maneuver Arctic Express with 4000 soldiers. It was first deployed operationally in 1991 during the

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, when part of its air component was dispatched to watch the Turkish borders, in the face of a potential threat to a member's territory. The AMF(L) was one of the NATO formations deployed to Norway during Exercise Strong Resolve 1998. The AMF(L) formed the core of the Albania Force (AFOR), a

-led international force responsible for establishing and delivering humanitarian aid to refugees from

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

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during the Kosovo crisis in 1999. It was led by Major General John Reith, Commander AMF(L). The Immediate Reaction Task Force (Land) (IRTF-L) was a novel command and control concept successfully developed and evaluated by the AMF(L) between 1999 and 2001. The IRTF(L) concept allowed the AMF(L), an existing Immediate Reaction Force multinational brigade HQ, to command a divisional sized force with minimal augmentation and no intermediate HQs. The trial concluded in December 2001.

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wrote that NATO had to disband the ACE Mobile Force, '..after Britain withdrew its contribution to ensure troops were available to join any US attack on Iraq. Britain's contribution to he forceincluded key support troops, without which the 6,000-strong force could not operate. With no other NATO member prepared to contribute more soldiers, the alliance had no choice but to disband it.' HQ AMF(L) was disbanded on October 31, 2002 and has since been replaced by the NATO Response Force.

Exercises

Norway, Narvik, Maneuver Strong Resolve, 3rd - 27th March 1998, (NSE)

The ACE Mobile Force took part in a large number of exercises. *1961 ''First Try'',

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...

*1962 ''Southern Express'', Greece *1963

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, Norway *1963 ''Summer Marmara Express'', Greece *1965 ''Eastern Express'', Turkey *1966 ''Summer Marmara Express'', Greece and Turkey *1967 ''Sunshine Express'', Greece *1968 Greece *1969 ''Olympic Express'', Turkey *1970 ''Deep Express'', Turkey *1970 ''Arctic Express'',

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, Norway *1971 ''Hellenic Express'', Greece *1972 ''Canadian Club'', Germany *1975 ''Deep Express'', Turkey *1975 ''Advent Express'', Great Britain *1976 ''Halina Express'', Great Britain *1977 ''Schwarzer Husar'', Great Britain *1980 ''Anorak Express'', Norway *1980 ''Ardent Ground'', Great Britain *1981 ''Amber Express'', Denmark *1981 ''Ardent Ground'', Portugal *1982 ''Ardent Ground'', Portugal *1983 ''Ardent Ground'', Belgium *1984 ''Ardent Ground'', Great Britain *1985 ''Archway Express'', Turkey *1986 ''Ardent Ground'', Belgium *1987 ''Ardent Ground'', Great Britain. Members of the Allied Command Europe Mobile Force from Belgium, the Netherlands, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in the live artillery/air exercise ARDENT GROUND '87 at

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Training Area in Wiltshire. *1987 ''Accord Express'', Denmark *1987 ''Aurora Express'', Turkey *1988 ''Arrowhead Express'', Norway *1988 ''Alley Express'', Turkey *1989 ''Ardent Ground'', Italy *1989 ''Armanda Exchange'', Pavia di Udine and Paularo, Italy *1989 ''Action Express'', Denmark *1990 ''Array Encounter 90'', Norway *1991 ''Alley Express'', Denmark *1992 ''Ardent Ground'', Otterburn, Northumberland, Great Britain *1992 ''Alley Express'', Turkey *1993 ''Arena Exchange'', Umbria, Italy *1993 ''Action Express'', Denmark *1993 ''Ardent Ground'', Belgium *1994 ''Arctic Express'', Bardudoss, Norway *1994 ''Ardent Ground'', Baumholder, Germany *1994 ''Arrow Exchange'', Gaziantep, Turkey *1995 ''Strong Resolve'', Trondheim, Norway *1995 ''Arctic Express'', Norway *1996 ''Cooperative Adventure Express'', Belgium *1997 ''Adventure Express'', Norway *1997 ''Ardent Ground'', Turkey *1998 Cooperative Adventure Exchange, Slovenia *1998 ''Strong Resolve'', Norway *1998 ''Strong Resolve'', Portugal *1999 Adventure Exchange, Italy *2000 ''Joint Winter'', Norway *2000 Ardent Ground, Hungary *2000 Adventure Exchange, Greece *2001 ''Adventure Exchange'', Turkey *2002 ''Cooperative Adventure Exchange'', Ukraine

References

*NATO Handbook, 50th Anniversary Edition, 1998–99, p. 253, 255
NATO website describing AFOR

ACE Mobile Force (Land)

Exercises

References

Further reading