Introduction

Europe's operational network, in which the rapid reaction corps headquarters hold a decisive position, represents a concentration of military capability and authority. However, the fact of concentration does not reveal precisely what role these new headquarters perform. As described in Chapter 4, the operational level refers to the co-ordination of tactical military activity into a coherent campaign in order to achieve strategic goals. The operational level refers, then, to the planning and command of these campaigns and operational art refers to the skilful design and organisation of military activity. Rapid reaction corps were created in order to address the new strategic pressures which NATO – and Europe – faced in the post-Cold War period. They were specifically designed to plan and command the new requirement to deploy troops at short notice to areas potentially outside those of traditional NATO responsibility. Although designated as tactical level commands, rapid reaction corps headquarters, therefore, represented an operational approach. They were specifically developed to plan operations, selecting how, when and where to deploy forces in line with strategic goals. Europe's operational network and, especially, its rapid reaction corps represent the institutional embodiment of operational art. It is necessary to explore the precise nature of this practice.