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NEWS RELEASE - April 7, 2005 - NATO MILITARY CHAIRMAN RECEIVES HIGHEST MILITARY AWARD FROM THE U.S.
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
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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. 
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.”