page_title: NATO Standardization Office
section_title: Structure
hierarchical_section_title: NATO Standardization Office / Structure
context_page_description: The NATO Standardization Office was a NATO agency created in 1951 to handle standardization activities for NATO. The NSA was formed through the merger of the Military Agency for Standardization and the Office for NATO Standardization. During the Agency Reforms, the NSA was transformed to the NATO Standardization Office on 1 July 2014, headed by the Director of the NATO Standardization Office.
  The NSO is composed of military and civilian staff that was created to be responsible for standardization for both the Military Committee and the North Atlantic Council It also provides standardization to NATO members military forces, with the goal of interoperability between member nations. It is also the responsibility of the NSO to initiate, administrate over and promulgate a Standardization Agreement.
  NSO headquarters is located at the main NATO headquarters at Boulevard Léopold III, B-1110 Brussels, which is in Haren, part of the City of Brussels municipality.
context_section_description: The NSA is an independent agency that receives general oversight and direction from a board of directors called the NATO Committee for Standardization (NCS) which are under the authority of the North Atlantic Council.  The NSA, NCS and the NATO Standardization Staff Group (NSSG) are the components that comprise the NATO Standardization Organization (NSO). The NSA serves as the executive branch of the NSO. The NSSG is a small group of staff which aids the Director in coordinating activities within the agency. Furthermore, the NSA is divided into an administrative unit and five branches: Air, Army, Joint, Naval and Policy and Coordination.
  The Director of the NATO Standardization Agency (DNSA) is the head authority figure of the NSA. The DNSA serves as the primary advisor to the Military Committee and to the Secretary General of NATO. The Director is selected by the NCS after an endorsement from the Military Committee. The Secretary General then formally appoints the DNSA for (normally) a three-year term. The Secretary General of NATO appointed former MAS director rear admiral Jan H. Eriksen as the first DNSA on October 1, 2001. The current Director of the NATO Standardization Office is Brigadier General Zoltan Gulyas.
caption: Former NSA logo