The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

's (NATO)

Allied Command Operations The Allied Command Operations (ACO) is one of the two strategic commands of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the other being Allied Command Transformation (ACT). The headquarters and commander of ACO is Supreme Headquarters A ...

(ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters,

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe The Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. SHAPE is situated in the villag ...

(SHAPE). The commander is based at SHAPE in

Casteau Casteau () originated as a village in the Hainaut Province, Hainaut province of Wallonia, in the French language, French speaking south of Belgium. Casteau has become a district of the municipality of Soignies, centred around Soignies (town), and ...

, Belgium. In effect, SACEUR is the second-highest military position within NATO, below only the

Chair of the NATO Military Committee The Chair of the NATO Military Committee (CMC) is the head of the NATO Military Committee, which advises the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on military policy and strategy. The CMC is the senior military spokesperson of the 32-nation alliance and p ...

in terms of precedence. There is another Supreme Allied Commander in NATO, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), titularly equal, but whose duties are less operational. SACT, in Norfolk, Virginia, has responsibility for capability development rather than operations. SACEUR has always been held by a U.S. military officer, and the position is dual-hatted with that of

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

United States European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven Unified Combatant Command, unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territori ...

. The current SACEUR is General Christopher G. Cavoli of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

List of holders

SACEUR change of command ceremony 130513-A-IL200-669

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:

Deputy

The position of Deputy Supreme Allied Command Europe (DSACEUR) has been known as Deputy Head of Allied Command Operations since 2003. From January 1978 until June 1993 there were two DSACEURs, one British and one German. From July 1993 this reverted to a single DSACEUR. With a small number of exceptions who were German military officers, DSACEUR is normally a British military officer. The officeholders have been as follows: Single DSACEUR (April 1951 – January 1978) Two DSACEURs (January 1978 until June 1993) Single DSACEUR (July 1993 – present)

Role in intra-European defence integration

DSACEUR's role in European Union missions

Under the 2002

Berlin Plus agreement The Berlin Plus agreement is the short title of a comprehensive package of agreements made between NATO and the European Union, EU on 16 December 2002.NATO, ''Berlin Plus agreement'', June 21, 2006. These agreements were based on conclusions of ...

, SHAPE may take part in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

's (EU) command and control structure as an operational headquarters (OHQ) for EU missions. In such an instance, the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), who is always a European, would serve as Operation Commander (OpCdr). This use of SHAPE by the EU is subject to a "right of first refusal", i.e. NATO must first decline to intervene in a given crisis, and is contingent upon unanimous approval among NATO states, including those outside of the EU.Bram Boxhoorn, ''Broad Support for NATO in the Netherlands'', 21-09-2005,

References

External links