Northwood News Archive 2010

15 Nov 10

Award presented to NATO captain for stopping pirates in the Gulf of Aden

On 2 Nov 2010 Captain Tom Tulloch (Canadian Navy) received the Canadian Meritorious Service Medal for the role he played as Chief of Staff to the Commander SNMG1 on aboard HDMS Absalon last February whilst conducting NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield.  The award was presented by Governor General David Johnston to Captain Tulloch at Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s official residence in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada). The citation reads: “On 5 February 2010 Captain Tulloch was acting commander of NATO’s SNMG1 in the absence of its commander, Commodore Rune. At mid morning, Tulloch was alerted that Motor Vessel Ariella, an Antigua and Barbuda flagged motor vessel, had been boarded by pirates. The master of MV Ariella had sent out a mayday call that pirates, armed with guns, had boarded his ship and he needed urgent assistance, and that the crew had locked themselves in a safe room. Tulloch took immediate action and led the coalition task forces to the rescue. Under Tulloch’s leadership, SNMG 1 was able to combat and apprehend the pirate vessel without injury or loss of life, bringing great credit to NATO and to Canada.”  Captain Tulloch is currently serving as the CIS Division Head at MC HQ Northwood.

11 Nov 10 

Armistice with NATO officers at Northwood Prep School

Amongst all Remembrance services in the local area, there was one that caught the attention of NATO officers from the Northwood Headquarters. Northwood Preparatory School, which is a local school for boys from 3 to 13 years, is celebrating its Centenary this year and many activities are thus organised with a view to this milestone. During the Armistice Day service at the school, a plaque was unveiled at a newly built memorial in the school grounds for the 15 boys and members of staff from the school who gave their lives during World War I and II. A wreath was laid by the daughter of a former staff member who gave his life during WWII. As some officers who work at NATO send their sons to Northwood Prep School there was a clear incentive for them to attend this ceremony. In addition,  a number of their colleagues at NATO joined them as they too wished to pay their respects at a time when the UK, as Host Nation, remembers it’s fallen. Dressed in full uniform the officers, who represented 9 different countries, impressed the boys, the staff and parents who attended the service and the school highly appreciated this gesture. View Pictures

05 Nov 10strong>

NATO's Halloween

On 4 November NATO staff from MC Northwood held a charity Halloween party. Tickets were sold for lunch and raffle prizes with £600 raised. The money will be divided between the ‘Linda Jackson MacMillen Centre’ & ‘Peace Children Centre’, both locally based cancer charities.  

More pictures

Today Rear Admiral Hank Ort, Northwood Chief of Staff, presented Commander Robbert van de Rijdt (Royal Netherlands Navy) with the Dutch medal for peace operations with the clasp 'NATO Operations' for his participation in Operation Ocean Shield. Commander van de Rijdt was the first Liaison Officer for Operation Ocean Shield based in Djibouti. He spent January and February 2010 in Djibouti setting up the office and making contacts with authorities based there.

NATO and EU Military representatives visit Northwood
On 30 September NATO and EU Military representatives visited EU Operational Headquarters and NATO AMC Northwood to be briefed on EU's ATALANTA and Operation Ocean Shield and its international cooperation and coordination. View Pictures

Northwood hosts NATO's Maritime Conference
On 23rd and 24th September, a conference was held at Northwood to discuss the maritime division of NATO’s High Readiness Forces (HRF). Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, the Commander of Allied Maritime Command Headquarters Northwood hosted the discussions. Among the attendees were Vice Admiral Maurizio Gemignani, Commander of Northwood’s sister Maritime Command in Naples and the Commanders of the Italian, Spanish, French and UK Maritime Forces.

On Friday 10th of September Admiral Sir Trevor Soar presented the Africa medal to 3 officers in AMC Northwood for their participation in Operation Ocean Shield. Captain Carlo Rijckaert (BEL N) was deployed as Chief of Staff (OCS) to SNMG 1 Rear Admiral De Cunha aboard his flagship NRP Corte Real. Captain Tom Tulloch (CAN N) was deployed as Chief of Staff to SNMG 1 Commodore Rune (DAN N) aboard his flagship HDMS Absalon. Lieutenant Commander Paul Montford (CAN N) was appointed to the staff of SNMG 1 as the AWW Officer and performed as battle watch captain alongside his Above Water Warfare duties. The pictures show the officers in order of description.

Commodore bids farewell to Northwood
Today marks the end of a four year deployment at HQ MC Northwood for its Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations), Cdre Hans Helseth (Norwegian Navy). During his time at Northwood, Cdre Helseth was heavily involved in NATO's counter piracy mission, Operation ocean Shield, in the Gulf of Aden. Northwood's Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Hank Ort said, "Cdre Helseth has had a huge personal influence in the process of ensuring that the HQ is ready for current operations." Cdre Helseth will now take up a post in the Norwegian Joint Headquarters. The new Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) is Cdre Bruce Belliveau (Canadian Navy).

On Saturday 19 June Mr Eimert van Middelkoop, the acting minister of defence of the Netherlands visited Northwood to receive a briefing on Operation Ocean Shield. Mr van Middelkoop was accompanied by Mr Casteleijn, the Departmental Head of Defence Policy, Commodore Reefman, Operations Deputy Director, Mr Waldeck , the NLD ambassador to London and Captain Campagne, the NLD Defence attaché in London.

Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Hank Ort briefed the minister on the importance of the Counter Piracy operation and how the deterrence and disruption of pirate activities makes a difference to the safety of all seafarers. RADM Ort stated that our success is based on military and merchant measures (eg Best Management Practice) and contacts with Somali authorities. RADM Ort also said that working with the EU, CMF and other navies meant that there was a real co- ordination of effort in HQ’s, in the IRTC and at sea. This allows all 3 organisations to present a united effort when tackling piracy. Colonel Richard Spencer (Chief of Staff of EU’s Atalanta) was present at the brief and acknowledged the success of cooperation and coordination between NATO and EU.

Today Mrs Anne-Marie Brinkman, a representative from the UNODC visited NATO Northwood. The aim of her visit was to deliver a briefing on the UN’s Counter Piracy Programme and to discuss piracy related issues. EU NAVAL FORCE representatives also attended the brief, including their new Chief of Staff, Colonel Richard Spencer OBE Royal Marines. The UN’s programme has three objectives: the first is fair and efficient trials and imprisonment in regional centres, the second a humane and secure imprisonment in Somalia, and the final objective is fair and efficient trials in Somalia. Commodore Helseth – NATO’s Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) at NATO Northwood thanked Mrs Brinkman for her briefing and reiterated the importance of working together to fight piracy.

Last night the NATO nations represented at Northwood had the opportunity to showcase their food, drink and national dress with colleagues as they celebrated their annual international night. Countries wore their national costumes with pride and spectacular food dishes were presented throughout the night. Dishes and drinks form Belgium Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, USA, Turkey and UK were present. This year marked the first time Swedish EU colleagues joined the festivities with their national food and drink.  Due to the enthusiasm of all countries and the enormous effort put in the stands and the dishes the event was a night to remember. An important part of the evening is the raffle organized by the Northwood officers wives. Each country donates a basket of national ‘goodies’ and this year £1857.00 was raised for the Sunshine house school in Northwood www.rnib.org.uk .This school is a special school that provides for the visual impaired, children with physical disabilities, severe learning difficulties, delicate medical conditions and dual/multi sensory impairment. The cheque was handed to its executive head Mr John Ayres which was much appreciated.

12 May

Japanese visitors welcomed to NATO Northwood

Two Japanese visitors were welcomed to AMC Northwood yesterday afternoon. Mr Michio Harada,Director of the Maritime Security Policy Division in the Japanese Foreign Policy Bureau and Captain Hiroyuki Terada, Defence Attaché at their London Embassy were in Northwood to discuss counter piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa. They were welcomed to the HQ by Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Hank Ort (NLD N) and Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) Commodore Hans Helseth (NOR N). This was a second visit to Northwood for Captain Terada as he visited earlier this year with other colleagues from the Japanese MOD. Japan is currently taking part in the international counter piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden.

On Wednesday evening, 28 April, the Dutch community based in Northwood Head Quarters hosted a reception on behalf of the Queens Day which is a national holiday in the Netherlands on 30 April. The Dutch Ambassador and Mrs P. Waldeck and the Dutch defence and naval attaché Captain and Mrs R.H. Campagne were present and welcomed by Admiral and Mrs. Ort and the senior national representative of AMC Northwood Captain and Mrs. van der Linde. Admiral Ort expressed his pleasure at being able to host and share the celebrations for Queens Day with NATO colleagues. Admiral Ort then commemorated in his speech the horrific events that happened last year during the celebrations in Apeldoorn. A man drove his car at high speed into a parade which included Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander and other members of the Royal family. The vehicle drove through people lining the street watching the parade, leaving eight dead and ten injured. It narrowly missed the Royal family and crashed into a monument at the side of the road. It will certainly be something that will be on the back of the minds of all Dutch during the celebration of Queensday this year. The Band of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee played the national anthem to complete the formal part of the evening. While the band played wonderful background music the guests enjoyed the Dutch national specialities like herring and ‘bitterballs’.

Commander-in-Chief FLEET, Admiral Sir Trevor Soar KCB OBE, held a Commendation Ceremony at Northwood HQ on Thursday 22nd April. Glorious sunshine graced the day, which incorporated the presentation Ceremony itself, for the 29 recipients held in St Christopher’s Church, followed by a lunch reception at Admiralty House. View pictures
 

The successful BRILLIANT MARINER 2010 exercise which ran from 12 - 22 April 10 is designed to train and test the NATO Response Forces in their ability to respond to any crisis worldwide. During the exercise, the NATO units including ships, submarines and aircraft, who were operating in the Northern and Baltic Seas,have dealt with a number of complex and challenging scenarios, ranging from maritime attacks by ’enemy’ ships and submarines, counter piracy and bomb disposal, together with mine counter-measure operations. The exercise has been controlled throughout by the NATO military staff and augmentees at NATO’s Maritime HQ, Northwood. Pictured are the Exercise Controllers or ‘EXCON’. Commodore Hans Helseth Norwegian Navy, pictured in the centre front row is the Exercise Director. Either side of Commodore Helseth is ‘exercise media’ team, who helped to develop the scenario and provide realistic breaking news storylines.

Maj. Gen. Kouichi Isobe, Col. Motohide Yamamoto, Capt. Hirishi Ito and Maj. Taiichi Yokogi from the Joint Staff of the Japanese MOD along with Capt. Hiroyuki Terada, the Defence Attache from their London Embassy visited Northwood HQ today. They received a briefing on NATO’s counter piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin, Operation Ocean Shield. Japan is currently taking part in the international counter piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden.  

General Jean-Louis Georgelin, the French Chief of Defence Staff visited MCC Northwood this morning. During his visit he received briefings on NATO’s naval and maritime challenges and on NATO’s counter piracy mission, Operation Ocean Shield. France resumed its position as a full member of NATO in April 2009. This was Gen. Georgelin’s first visit to Northwood and gave him the opportunity to meet the French officers working there. 

Ambassador Lawrence Rossin, Deputy Assistant Secretary General visited NATO’s Northwood HQ on Friday 15th January accompanied by Capt. Peter Kortenoeven of NATO’s International Military Staff. They received briefings on NATO’s counter piracy mission Operation Ocean Shield. Ambassador Rossin also took the opportunity to discuss the way forward and progress of the mission with Northwood’s staff.