Introduction

The appearance of a transnational operational complex is both a notable and novel development for Europe's armed forces. This new network of military expertise is likely to be profoundly significant for Europe's military capabilities in the future. Yet operational headquarters in themselves serve only a co-ordinating and directing function. However sophisticated their plans and however brilliant their commanders and staff, they require tactical forces to prosecute their campaigns. Ardant Du Picq noted the priority in his famous treatise on combat in the nineteenth century:

European military capability and effectiveness are, therefore, not solely determined by operational level developments. Operational developments are a necessary but not sufficient dimension of military reform. The success of Europe's military operations relies on the troops actually conducting operations in theatres from the Balkans to Afghanistan. Transformation at the ‘tactical’ level among those forces that actually engage with hostile and friendly populations is indispensable. The development of these military forces is central to any account of European military development.