Supreme Allied Commander Europe Supreme Allied Commander Europe The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is based at SHAPE in Casteau, Belgium. SACEUR is the second-highest military position within NATO, below only the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee in terms of precedence. SACEUR has always been held by a U.S. military officer, and the position is dual-hatted with that of Commander of United States European Command. The current SACEUR, General Curtis M. Scaparrotti, has held the position
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe but now aboard the amphibious ship "Mistral". The French naval component is drawn from the Force d'Action Navale, the French Navy's surface fleet. Island Commander, Iceland, remains in existence as a detachment of HQ ACO, as does Allied Submarine Command, a NATO command based on the United States Navy's ComSubLant. A special operations coordination centre and an intelligence fusion centre have also recently been formed within SHAPE. As more capable rapid reaction forces were established, earlier 'fire brigades', including the ACE Mobile Force (Land) ('AMF (L)'), were disbanded; AMF(L) was disbanded on 30 October 2002. In addition to this Allied