DATE: Monday, August 18, 1997               TAG: 9708180054

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  108 lines

MULTINATIONAL MILITARY: NATO OFFICERS SET SAIL FOR A UNIFIED FUTURE 14 MEMBER NATIONS, LED BY THE 2ND FLEET, ARE LEARNING WAYS TO RESPOND TO TROUBLE EFFICIENTLY, TOGETHER.

Nearly two dozen NATO military officers have joined forces with the staff of the 2nd Fleet, where the alliance will attempt to forge the multinational military of the future.

Working from the decks of the Norfolk-based command ship Mount Whitney, officers representing 14 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's 16 member nations are testing untried ground: building a truly combined, seagoing joint task force that can respond rapidly to trouble spots.

They will test the concept in the spring during major NATO maneuvers in Europe, called Strong Resolve '98, which will involve more than 100 ships from 11 nations, nearly a dozen army battalions and hundreds of aircraft.

The maneuvers also will test NATO's and America's ability to simultaneously respond to a major crisis in one place and a regional conflict in another.

Vice Adm. Vern Clark, commander of the 2nd Fleet and commander of NATO's Striking Fleet Atlantic, is at the helm of this new endeavor.

Its centerpiece is joint-service warfare, Clark said, a concept the United States began working on years ago, but one that NATO also wants to embrace.

``It's important because all the members of the alliance are going through the same economic pressures,'' Clark said. ``They are getting rid of excess capacity. They don't want two companies to do the same thing, wasting money.''

It is important also because NATO's expansion plans call for bringing three former East-bloc countries - Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic - into the alliance in the next two years. NATO also is enhancing its Partnership for Peace program, which builds military cooperation with 27 partner states across Europe and the former Soviet Union.

``We know there is not going to be a big windfall in resources in the future,'' Clark said. ``We are getting smaller, and none of us can do it alone. The big challenge for us is to be able to extract that utility out of this and not have redundant capabilities across the services. That is what the taxpayers expect. They don't expect to pay for something twice.''

Clark's flagship is a 28-year-old amphibious ship that bristles with global communications gear and modern computer systems overseen by an 800-member crew and his 150-member staff. It has been used for decades to train America's battle fleets in war-fighting skills and new tactics.

Every Atlantic Fleet battle group preparing to deploy overseas is taken to sea by the 2nd Fleet staff and given a school-like series of exams designed to test the sailors and their equipment in all areas of naval warfare. Clark, their headmaster, must certify that they're fit for their tasks.

Only in recent years has ``jointness'' been stressed in such training. That was a by-product of America's participation in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Middle East.

``That was a watershed experience for us in jointness,'' Clark said.

Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel found themselves working more closely than ever before. Yet they had to be taught how to communicate with one another, how to become efficient, how to put aside their parochialism.

It hasn't been easy, nor is it complete, say many senior officers. But all agree it will be done.

``Jointness,'' Clark said, ``is an idea whose time has come in order to field the best effective fighting force.''

Bosnia was NATO's watershed, Clark said. Last summer the alliance approved moving ahead with the combined joint task force concept, sending military representatives to Clark from every member nation except Iceland and Luxembourg. Iceland has no military forces and Luxembourg has fewer than 1,000.

Even Spain and France, which previously have been reluctant military members of the alliance, have sent representatives to Clark.

If it works as planned, the exercise in March could have an air traffic controller from Portugal controlling fighter jets from Spain. A two-star Spanish officer might be Clark's deputy. The overall maritime commander could be British.

In addition, representatives from at least 10 Partnership for Peace nations have that indicated they want to participate.

The interest was so strong last year that when Marine Gen. John J. Sheehan, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, sent out invitations to the 16 member countries for allied officers to join Clark's staff, he received 36 acceptances - more than the one per nation anticipated.

``We didn't have the room,'' said Clark, noting that the Mount Whitney is already crowded with people and newly installed computers and communications equipment to aid the larger staff. ``What I need is a big hotel.''

Clark settled on 23 allied officers, mostly commanders or lieutenant colonels who will represent their countries during the work-up to the March exercise. At that time, an additional 150 U.S. and allied officers will augment the staff.

We're like a Bell Lab for the future of the military,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Roxie Merritt, a spokeswoman for Clark, trying to explain the changes taking place. ``This is the crucible, so to speak.''

So fast-moving have been the changes aboard the Mount Whitney that computer installation has lagged in a few areas, especially those needed by the new NATO officers. Remodeling, along with adjustments to plans and schedules, is becoming routine.

``We are leading the way, but for everything we do here there is not a template for it,'' Merritt said. ``We have to make it up as we go along because it is all so new.''

A year ago Clark's staff had just one European officer aboard, Royal Navy Capt. Jon Welch, the assistant chief of staff for NATO.

As he contemplated the changes, Welch said the improvements were a step toward meeting the mission handed to the forces by NATO's member nations.

``They are adding purpose, rather than muscle, adding another reason for NATO to exist as a group of nations, not independents.'' ILLUSTRATION: JOHN EARLE/The Virginian-Pilot

The command ship Mount Whitney serves a NATO alliance that is

developing a joint seagoing force to rapidly respond to trouble

spots.

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