7 April 2005

NATO Military Chairman receives highest military award from the U.S. Background High resolution photos On April 7, 2005 in a ceremony before members of the US Joint Staff, General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff presented the U.S. Legion of Merit to General Harald Kujat, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. The Legion of Merit is the highest military award which may be bestowed to a member of a foreign military. General Kujat was in the U.S. to chair a session of the NATO Military Committee which was held at the NATO's Allied Command Transformation headquarters in Norfolk, VA.  General Kujat also visited Washington to confer with US officials before returning to the NATO HQ in Brussels.  Award Citation: “General Harald Kujat, German Federal Armed Forces, distinguished himself by unsurpassed and conspicuously superior service to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in progressive positions of great responsibility, capping a dedicated career of service as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee during the period of July 2002 through June 2005.   His inspirational leadership, tenacious initiative, and boundless enthusiasm were instrumental ingredients in the great progress made by the NATO military establishment during his tenure.  As the Chairman of the Military Committee, he superbly led the Alliance’s 26 Chiefs of Defense in reorienting the Military Committee towards a more substantive role in Alliance deliberations, rendering critical military advice on sensitive and complex topics to the North Atlantic Council while urging the Committee members to move with more alacrity and the focus demanded by the new environments in which NATO operates.  Not satisfied with mere process, General Kujat actively participated in the necessary behind-the-scenes negotiations critical to the progress of his agenda.  His goal was nothing less than substantive, effective change in NATO’s military instrument, and he succeeded in putting in place the necessary decisions and mechanisms by which the Alliance will continue to evolve to meet future threats and requirements.  In all ways, General Kujat guided the Military Committee and the entire NATO military establishment along the path of transformative change so critical to success in meeting future challenges.  Always a friend and ally of the United States, General Kujat’s singularly distinctive accomplishments during this assignment, as well as his meritorious and superior achievements throughout his career of selfless service, reflect great credit upon himself, the German Federal Armed Forces, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Federal Republic of Germany.”