New NATO structures were also formed while old ones were abolished . In 1997 , NATO reached agreement on a significant downsizing of its command structure from 65 headquarters to just 20 . The NATO Response Force ( NRF ) was launched at the 2002 Prague summit on 21 November , the first summit in a former Comecon country . On 19 June 2003 , a further restructuring of the NATO military commands began as the Headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander , Atlantic were abolished and a new command , Allied Command Transformation ( ACT ) , was established in Norfolk , United States , and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ( SHAPE ) became the Headquarters of Allied Command Operations ( ACO ) . ACT is responsible for driving transformation ( future capabilities ) in NATO , whilst ACO is responsible for current operations . In March 2004 , NATO 's Baltic Air Policing began , which supported the sovereignty of Latvia , Lithuania and Estonia by providing jet fighters to react to any unwanted aerial intrusions . Eight multinational jet fighters are based in Lithuania , the number of which was increased from four in 2014 . Also at the 2004 Istanbul summit , NATO launched the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative with four Persian Gulf nations
2002 Prague summit
2002 Prague summit
History of NATO