This Cold War era report “NATO Today” was produced by NATO / OTAN and EMITEL Production in 1977. It provides viewers with an explanation of what NATO is and its military commands and capabilities. Furthermore, it addresses current topics involving NATO such as the SALT talks. It features footage of U.S. President Jimmy Carter addressing a NATO assembly. Some of the issues effecting NATO in 1977 included the division of Berlin and the Berlin Wall, the military capabilities of the Warsaw Pact and the ongoing SALT talks. SALT or the “Strategic Arms Limitation Talks” were a set of negotiations that took place in the 1970s between the United States and the Soviet Union.

(00:10) The title sequence scrolls through a list of NATO member countries with the words “NATO Today” in the country’s native language(s).

(00:52) An animation showing the spread of communism in Europe from 1945 to 1949, when the North Atlantic Treaty which established NATO was signed.

(01:32) An animation of the 15 countries’ flags.

(01:50) NATO headquarters in Brussels.

(02:07) Animation showing the organizational structure of NATO

(02:23) Over 300 committees and work groups are organized.

(02:59) The military committee consists of military leaders from the member states.

(03:29) The Supreme Allied Commander Europe is based out of Casteau, near Mons, Belgium.

(03:41) Footage of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.

(03:59) Different military commands took charge of particular areas

(04:39) The Allied Atlantic Command is based in Norfolk, Virginia

(4:53) Nuclear powered attack submarine on the move

(05:12) Norfolk’s harbor

(05:18) The third main military command, Allied Command Channel, is in charge of the English Channel and the Black Sea. It helps protect the cargo boats that use the waters. Imagery shows a patrol craft marked M931. This is the Belgian Navy’s Knokke (decommissioned 1976), an MSC-class coastal minesweeper.

(06:30) An animation showing the respective defense capabilities of NATO and the Warsaw Pact during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

(07:48) Image of the Soviet’s powerful Delta-class submarine as well as Red Navy helicopter aircraft carriers and assault ships.

(08:24) Footage of the October Revolution Day celebration in the Red Square, observed on November 7 1977. It featured a military parade featuring soldiers, tanks, and rockets. Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev watches from the Kremlin.

(09:37) Dignitaries and officials including Leonid Brezhnev.

(09:57) An animation explaining the NATO strategy of flexibility in response, based on a triad of forces.

(10:15) The first element of this triad strategy is conventional armed forces. The Warsaw Pact nations are stronger in this area, their forces are more numerous and of a high quality.

(10:33) Tactical nuclear weapons form the second component of this triad which can help dissuade further attacks and demonstrate the West’s willingness to fight and not surrender.

(10:51) Strategic nuclear weapons are the third and final element. NATO has indicated it is willing to use these weapons.

(12:22) Overview of the ongoing SALT negotiations and the role of NATO and the United States

(13:02) Footage of the talks which took place in Vienna

(14:20) The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe culminated in the Helsinki Accords in 1975

(14:56) Views of the Berlin Wall with East German border guards surveying the no man’s land

(15:27) People wave to each other across the barrier

(16:54) Flags outside NATO’s headquarters in Belgium

(17:39) U.S. President Jimmy Carter addresses a NATO assembly

(18:19) Credits: An EMITEL Production.

Motion picture films don’t last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we’ve worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies — including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you’d like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com