The Corps Forward Element Completes Its First Year of Deployment in Slovakia

•  Its main mission, within the allied effort on the eastern flank, is the coordination of NATO's deterrence plans

The Corps Forward Element (CFE) in Slovakia celebrates its first year of deployment at the Malacky Air Base, located in the town of Kuchyňa, Slovakia.

In the coming months, the CFE will focus its efforts on supporting the Forward Land Forces (FLF) brigade expansion exercise, as part of the NATO Multinational Task Force Brigade deployed in Slovakia (MN BDE TF SVK). The CFE will also work on aligning the Corps' tactical plans with national defense strategies.

Among the CFE's primary tasks is linking with various entities in the operational area to facilitate the entry and assumption of responsibilities by the Headquarters NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – HQ NRDC Spain (HQ NRDC-ESP) as Warfighting Corps (WFC). Additionally, the CFE aims to identify training opportunities between NATO elements and the national defense forces of the countries within this area of responsibility.

In addition to personnel from CGTAD/HQ NRDC-ESP, based in Valencia and Bétera, the CFE receives support from communication personnel from Regimiento de Transmisiones 21^st  (Marines-Valencia) and Regimiento de Transmisiones 1^st  (Huesca), who provide command and control through the most modern information and communication technologies. The CFE also deploys a detachment from the National Support Element (NSE), which is generated by the Logistical Support Group AALOG 61^st  (Valladolid).

With this CFE deployment, now celebrating its first year, Spain demonstrates its role as a responsible partner and ally, committed to NATO's defense and deterrence goals. It also showcases Spain's contribution to NATO's deterrence efforts in Eastern Europe, which have increased in recent years in response to the evolving security situation in the Euro-Atlantic area. Additionally, this deployment of allied forces in the Eastern Flank improves interoperability and stands as a symbol of unity and solidarity.

Eastern Flank

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 22, 2022, NATO called an extraordinary summit in Brussels in June of that year. During the summit, NATO reviewed the existing enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) concept and developed the new concept of Forward Land Forces (FLF). A key element of the FLF concept is the ability for Combat  Groups (Battalion-sized unit) to scale up to Combat Brigades.

In this context, on December 27^th , 2023, to reaffirm Spain's commitment to its allies, the Spanish government approved, in the Council of Ministers, the deployment of Spanish forces in Slovakia. This decision implied that Spain would first assume the role of Framework Nation (FN) for the scalable Combat Group deployed in Lešť, Slovakia. Secondly, Spain would also take on the role of FN for a Warfighting Corps (WFC), with the HQ NRDC-ESP (Headquarters NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – HQ NRDC Spain) as the command and control element in the Slovakia-Hungary-Czech Republic area. This authorized the permanent deployment of a WFC Coordination Element.

To support this deployment, the Corps Forward Element (CFE) concept was developed by HQ NRDC-ESP. As a key milestone for both Spain and its allies, the first relief of the CFE took place on March 12, 2024, with 16 personnel from HQ NRDC-ESP deployed to the Kuchyňa Air Base in Slovakia.