KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – The 21st Theater Sustainment Command hosted more than 20 delegates from allied and partner nations for a National Territorial Commanders Steering Committee session at the U.S Deployment Processing Center (DPC), on Rhine Ordnance Barracks, Nov. 18–19, 2025. The purpose of the steering committee was to improve host-nation support coordination and strengthen multinational logistics across Europe.
The National Territorial Commanders Committee (NTCC) was established in 1986 by Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United States. It is an essential forum where nations compare notes on host-nation support and look for ways to make multinational movement a little smoother. This session brought together representatives from across Europe and North America, along with observers from the Joint Support and Enabling Command, NATO Support and Procurement Agency, and the European Union Military Staff.
Lt. Col. Kalle M.J. Leinonen, a Finnish Defence Forces leader and the current NTCC chair, said the group focused on two main priorities this cycle.
“We are focusing on enablement and observing the European-wide logistical network,” Leinonen said. “We look at the ability to support troops across borders and across different national systems.”
Leinonen added that the basics still matter the most.
“Once we send troops into a country, there must be a minimum level of capability for them to use,” he said. “Without that standard of host-nation support, the operation cannot begin at all.”
During breakout groups, participants dug into documentation processes, mobility corridors, and host-nation support contacts. Much of the real discussion happened in the corners of the room, over tables and maps, where delegates compared experiences that don’t always make it into formal agendas.
Capt. Bo de Oliveira Ommen, Denmark’s head of host-nation support coordination, said the NTCC’s informal structure is part of what keeps it useful.
“NATO workshops have very fixed agendas and tight timelines,” Ommen said. “The NTCC gives us room for the side discussions we can’t always have in other forums.”
Ommen added that the face-to-face time matters as much as the formal program.
“Everyone is extremely busy at home,” Ommen said. “Taking time to connect and learn from one another, even about things not directly tied to today’s task, pays off when those issues suddenly become relevant.”
During a breakout session, Canadian Armed Forces Maj. Pierre-Vincent Daigle spoke about the challenges countries face when sending forces overseas once movement begins.
“As a sending nation, we have to understand what host nations need from us,” Daigle said. “Right now, we move administratively from Montreal to Riga, but in a contested environment, that would be impossible. We would have to rely on European mobility corridors.”
The 21st TSC played a supporting role throughout the event.
Denise McClure, the 21st TSC’s host-nation support branch chief, said the unit offered to host the session because it could provide the required NATO Secret environment.
“We wanted to showcase the U.S. Deployment Processing Center, an instrumental capability for U.S. forces deploying to and from the European theater,” McClure said. “Demonstrating the DPC’s capabilities connected the committee’s themes and showed our allies and partners the standard the United States uses to receive, marshal, and prepare troops for onward movement.”
As the session wrapped up, Leinonen said each nation left with clearer priorities and a better sense of what still needs to be aligned.
“All our nations face the same situation when it comes to time, we have limited resources, and we have to catch the train that has already left the station,” Leinonen said.
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