It has been eight years already since Multinational Corps Northeast moved to the Baltic Barracks in Szczecin and started to fill pages of its chronicle. Yesterday, on September 18, in order to celebrate this special occasion and to recall the most important and unique moments of the Corps’ history, an extraordinary Beer Call was organised.
Commander Multinational Corps Northeast, LtGen Zdzisław Goral delivered a short speech to all gathered in the AOC Club. Commander reminded of the beginnings of the Corps and the landmarks in its history. Finally, the toasts were raised. An interesting detail was that yesterday it was raining just like eight years ago during the Inauguration Ceremony…
A bit of history
It took several years of efforts before the flags were raised at the Baltic Barracks and the Corps’ Inauguration Ceremony took place on September 18, 1999. When Poland was invited for membership in NATO in 1997, the military cooperation of preceding years between Denmark, Germany and Poland resulted in the decision taken in Omulew, Poland, to create a common corps located in Szczecin. Already one year later, on September 5, 1998 the Corps Convention was signed by the Ministers of Defence of Denmark, Germany and Poland. This document set the legal basis for the Multinational Corps Northeast. The nucleus of the new structure was formed by Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland, with its headquarters in Rendsburg, Germany, which was the only multinational corps headquarters in NATO for a long time.
A lot has been changed since 1999. The Corps grew constantly inviting more countries to share common goals and responsibilities. The Baltic States sent liaison officers in 2002 and two years later the flags of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania started to flutter in the wind at the Baltic Barracks. Subsequently, in 2005 Slovakia and the Czech Republic sent their staff to the Corps as well. As a result the Corps’ family consisted of eight nations already. Recently, at the close of last year, also the United States sent their first officer to serve at the Baltic Barracks. But still, the Corps is still the smallest Corps within NATO family. Nevertheless, this Corps was perfectly capable of completing mission tasks in Afghanistan. From February to July 2007 about 160 soldiers served as part of ISAF X/1 in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif.
Even though multinational cooperation on military level has always been a priority, also ordinary contacts between soldiers and their families coming from different nations should be emphasized. In fact, the Corps serves as a kind of bridge between cultures. A good chance to meet are for example traditional national holidays celebrated at the Baltic Barracks, such as German Oktoberfest, Danish Jule–Gløgg or Polish Armed Forces’ Day and many others.
Our Generals
Since the Corps’ Command Group is traditionally filled by representatives from Denmark, Germany and Poland, eight years of the Corps’ functioning gave the chance to all three nations to lead Multinational Corps Northeast.
1999 – 2001 LtGen Henrik Ekmann (DNK A)
2001 – 2003 LtGen Zygmunt Sadowski (POL A)
2004 – 2006 LtGen Egon Ramms (GER A)
2006 – LtGen Zdzislaw Goral (POL A)
LtGen Goral’s Deputy is MajGen Jan Brun Andersen (DNK A) and Chief of Staff is BrigGen Josef Heinrichs (GER A).
