NATO
Allied Command Transformation
December 21, 2022

NATO Medical Support Capstone Concept is Approved

The NATO Medical Support Capstone Concept (NMSCC), NATO’s first ever strategic Medical concept, was approved by the Military Committee on 8 December 2022….It is predicated on both ACT’s NATO Warfighting Capstone Concept and ACO’s Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic area, both of which are derived from NATO’s Military Strategy….It informs NATO’s mid- and long-term medical planning and the development of Alliance medical capabilities through to 2040 in support of NATO’s combatant commanders engaged in Alliance missions across the spectrum of conflict. These medical capabilities will be essential for NATO Nations to sustain, across their Armed Forces, the will to fight that is an essential element of the moral component of fighting power….

The creation of the NMSCC comes at a point in history when events are reminding us that there is a spectrum of conflict. For many years, NATO Nations have been focused on the point on the spectrum of conflict represented by operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those operations and the long period for which they endured caused aspects of the force structure and the way the force operated to be seen as ubiquitous….

Today, operations in Afghanistan have been terminated, the Chinese government is openly stating its intent to reunify with Taiwan and Russia has invaded Ukraine. This series of events reminded everyone that there is a spectrum of conflict. The next conflict – the next conflict that may require NATO Nations to deploy forces – has the potential to fall elsewhere on that spectrum. Future operations may not feature air superiority, far less air supremacy.