Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Elvis Umanzor | U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Matthew Van Wagenen, deputy chief of staff for operations of...... read more read more
Assigned to the European region over the past 20 years, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Matthew Van Wagenen, former deputy chief of staff operations for NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, sees the 70-year alliance’s resolve during conflict through an international lens to promote security and peace.
“We do business here completely differently and you really have to have a consensus amongst the contributing nations in this headquarters,” he said. “It shows the importance of NATO, that everyone has a voice no matter what size the country is.
Everybody has a different view on how things are done, and the biggest thing I learned is those views have to be respected and listened to. They must be.”
Van Wagenen, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native, arrived from 3 (UK) Division to the Gloucester based ARRC in October 2019, as the senior U.S. national representative, where he spoke for the U.S. military in the headquarters and led the operations directorate, planning operations of both real-world and training exercises. This task quickly saw difficulties during a worldwide health crisis.
“The greatest challenge faced during my time at the ARRC and NATO was COVID. It challenged us at every level,” he said. “We reacted and changed how we did business in every way, but it in fact made us stronger and more collaborative.”
During the pandemic the operations directorate played a major role in Loyal LEDA 2020, where the ARRC was certified as the first corps warfighting headquarters at readiness for NATO and helped built new capabilities in NATO.
British Army Colonel Jim Brown, assistant chief of staff for the ARRC’s Plans Branch (G5), said Van Wagenen provided clear direction and guidance to achieve a strong combat readiness evaluation during LOLE20 and in establishing NATO Multinational Corps South East in Romania, ahead of Defender 21, a U.S. led exercise.
“He has been able to interact at all levels with G5 and come in to visit and see people in a manner that perhaps hasn’t been done before, so that’s been really refreshing and good to see,” said Col Brown. “If I’m honest, his ability to realise when he didn’t need to get involved, really let the planning team work at speed, at pace within the framework he’d set.”
Italian Army Major General Lorenzo D’Addario, deputy commander for the ARRC, has worked with the American military many times and said he’s always had a gratifying experience, but particularly this time considering the personality, willingness, and experience of Van Wagenen.
“If I had to depict Matt, I would say he is America at best, said D’Addario. “He really embodies to me those Americans who came to Europe in both the occasion during the world wars and really brought freedom and brought peace to my country and to other countries of Europe.
General Matt is one individual, whom not only one appreciates for his working ethic, and his ability as a professional, but also as a man of family, as a person who had a very solid moral compass. I think in himself and in his family, one really admires, not just as an officer, but as a man. I’m really glad that I had met him.”
Van Vagenen recently became the deputy commander of U.S. Army V Corps, forward based in Poland, and continues to work alongside NATO allies. He said he has a deeper appreciation for how European partners and allies look at things.
“I’m fortunate enough to have lived here so long,” he said. “I definitely see problems through a different lens.”
| Date Taken: | 06.22.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.22.2021 07:40 |
| Story ID: | 399399 |
| Location: | GLOUCESTER, GB |
| Hometown: | PITTSBURGH, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 543 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
NATO
Bucharest
Allied Rapid Reaction Corps
ARRC
Van Wagenen
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