France Takes The Lead Of NATO’s Highest Readiness Force

France took the lead of NATO’s highest-readiness military force on Saturday (1 January 2022), for a period of one year. The formation, formally known as NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), was created in 2014 in response to crises in the Middle East and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and is permanently available to move within days to defend any Ally. The VJTF is the highest-readiness element of NATO’s 40,000-strong Response Force. “I thank France for leading NATO’s rapid reaction force in 2022,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “The Very High Readiness Joint Task Force is a substantial…