anniversary
A milestone
in NATO’s history
ON 8 October 2005, a devastating earthquake
struck the Kashmir region, killing 86,000 people
and injuring up to 100,000. It destroyed villages,
schools and hospitals, and caused landslides
that blocked roads. Over 3.5 million people lost their homes.
The Pakistani government requested assistance from
NATO, not only for those injured during the earthquake, but
also to prevent a second wave of deaths due to the lack of
food, medical care and shelter as a result of the imminent
onset of the harsh Himalayan winter.
The Alliance delivered assistance by activating and
deploying four elements: the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Relief
Coordination Centre (EADRCC) in Brussels —responsible
for coordinating donations both from NATO allies and
partner countries—, caught the air bridge flight from Turkey
and Germany to Pakistan; a joint headquarters serviced
by personnel from the NATO Joint Force Command
(JFCL) in Lisbon, and reinforced
by staff from NATO’s Supreme
Headquarters (SHAPE) —in charge
of coordinating efforts at operational
level in Pakistan—, was deployed to
the capital, Islamabad; a forward air
component led by France, consisting
of a German helicopter detachment,
a Luxembourg rescue helicopter and
a fuel tank operated by a French
unit in Abbottabad, was deployed to
Islamabad.
The land component was led by NATO’s Rapid
Deployment Headquarters in Spain (HQ NRDC-ESP) and
was deployed to Bagh, in the earthquake zone. It included
a headquarters entirely built by the NRDC-ESP, assisted
by a signals unit and a support unit, and reinforced with
capabilities of the Spanish National Support Element (NSE);
a multinational engineer battalion, led by Spain, consisting
of two light engineer units in the Bagh district (one Spanish
and one Polish), which were the first to be deployed; an
Italian engineer unit with heavy construction equipment;
a British engineer unit specialised in high-altitude relief
efforts; four water purification teams; a multinational field
hospital deployed in the Bagh area with inpatient and
outpatient capacity, operated by mobile medical teams from
the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, France, Portugal and
the United Kingdom; and two civilian-military cooperation
teams from Slovenia and France.
The engineers’ primary activities included building 110
shelters for the population; repairing nearly 60 kilometres
of roads; removing 41,500 cubic metres of debris, building
health clinics and 22 schools, 13 of which were temporary;
delivering 267 cubic metres of drinking water for the victims,
and upgrading a permanent drinking water distribution and
storage system capable of supplying up to 8,400 people a day.
NATO’s field hospital treated up to 4,890 patients and
performed 160 major surgeries. Mobile medical units
treated 3,424 patients in remote mountain villages and
contributed to the World Health Organization’s immunisation
programme for epidemic outbreaks.
Special mention should be made of the selfless work
carried out by the National Support Element deployed by
Spain as part of what was known as Operation Solidarity
Response II. The professionalism and speed with which
they built the military camp at Arja,
housing the land component —except
for the multinational hospital— and
the medical support provided to all
the forces deployed and the nearby
population allowed all NATO engineers
and the multinational hospital to
entirely concentrate their efforts on
helping the victims.
While NATO Response Force
elements had previously been
The land
component was
led by Bétera
headquarters
deployed to support the 2004 Athens Olympic Games
and provide relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in
September and October 2005, the Pakistan earthquake
relief operation was a landmark, as it was the first time the
NATO Response Force land component was deployed, and
outside its area of responsibility. The irony of the case is
that the full operational capability of the NATO Response
Force was not declared until 28 November 2006 at the
Riga Summit, a year after the High Readiness Force Land
Headquarters led the operation in Pakistan.
Fifteen years later, NATO’s Rapid Deployment
Headquarters in Spain remains on alert, constantly
being trained and adapting to a highly dynamic security
environment and to new concepts and doctrines. This
adaptability, its willingness to operate at the forefront and the
extraordinary professionalism of its members have forged
the successes of the past and will guide its brilliant future.
Lt. Col. Tomás
Quecedo
Estébanez
Commander of Military
Information Activities at
Bétera headquarters.
Former operations
commander of NATO’s
land component in
Pakistan
40 Revista Española de Defensa December 2020