Naval Maritime Group / Maritime Mine Countermeasure Group, SNMG/MCMG – permanent naval rapid response and mine countermeasure groups on the Baltic and North Sea) and in the air (Enhanced Air Policing or eAP – strengthened air policing over in Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland). Following the swift changes, long-term issues were also addressed, including the re-organization of the NATO Response Force (NRF), the refinement of regional plans, the further development of an infrastructure to support deployment, and the enhancement of regional structures. The role of Multinational Corps North-East was redefined and the headquarters of South, Northeast, and North Division were established in cooperation with the framework nations. Needless to say, there was also a need for a new perspective for regional exercises. The network of NFIUs (in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria) was tasked to become an outpost of the NATO command structure and facilitate information exchange between NATO’s command and force structures and the host nation. The main purpose is to support situational awareness, planning, deployment and operation of the NATO Response Force from peace and deterrence through crisis to conflict.
As NFIU is not part of the NATO Command Structure (which is funded from the NATO Common Budget) but a NATO Force Structure, the armed forces of the host country are responsible for the infrastructure and technical equipment and support.
NFIU Estonia has a combined staff of about 40 members supporting NATO’s structures in place, possessing the competence of the combined services in land, naval, air, and special forces. NFIU Estonia has a combined staff of about 40 members supporting NATO’s structures in place, possessing the competence of the combined services in land, naval, air, and special forces. In order to complement and implement the comprehensive approach to security and defence, the staff comprises specialists coordinating the civilian-military cooperation, host nation support and strategic communications. About half of the NFIU positions are manned by representatives from the host country, while the remainder of the staff are comprised of servicemen and wo49
