The Corps Committee (CC) is a Supervising Authority of the Corps and a kind of multinational coordination forum for the Corps in times of peace, crisis and war. The Committee advises the Framework Nations – Denmark, Germany and Poland – through the appropriate channels on legal, financial and other issues concerning the Corps. The Corps Committee also supervises and gives advice to the Corps Commander in all areas that NATO or national authorities do not deal with. This includes planning, preparation and execution of the Corps’ tasks and missions, but also common training exercises, organisation and logistics.
The Corps Committee is composed of representatives of Denmark, Germany and Poland acting on behalf of their Army Chiefs of Staff (or equivalent). There is always a chairman of the Corps Committee, two co-chairmen and their secretaries. The chairmanship rotates on an annual basis between the Framework Nations. During the last Corps Committee Meeting, which took place in November 2011 in Szczecin, a German, Colonel Dr. Tegtmeier, acted as the Chairman, whereas a Dane, Colonel Knudsen, and a Pole, Colonel Dariusz Parylak, served as Co-Chairmen of the Committee.
Since the Corps Committee decides on the most important Corps-related issues, the Corps Commander is also invited to attend the meetings, as are other Corps representatives.
The work of the Corps Committee is supported by multinational sub-working groups providing expert opinions on given issues.
The course of the meeting is usually divided into three main parts; in the first part the members of the Corps Committee meet with the Corps Command Group and other Corps representatives in order to be updated on the Corps´ matters. In the second part of the session, the discussion takes place without the presence of the Command Group – only ACOS G-5 as the Corps representative to the CC is in attendance. During the last part, the final agreements are presented to the Command Group.
This picture was taken in November 2011 during the 44th Corps Committee Meeting. In the picture (from the left): Lieutenant Colonel Krzysztof Karczewski, the Polish Secretary, Colonel Dariusz Parylak, the Polish Co-Chairman, Major Frank Lyth, the Danish Secretary, Colonel P.P. Knudsen, the Danish Co-Chairman, Colonel Dr Michael A. Tegtmeier, the German Chairman and Lieutenant Colonel Thorsten Fries, the German Secretary.
