"It's obvious we're seeing a military metamorphosis of this alliance," Jones told reporters at NATO military headquarters in the Belgian town of Mons.

NATO leaders agreed last November to create a rapid reaction forceready to be deployed quickly for combat missions wherever needed and to be fully operational by 2006.

Jones confirmed on Tuesday that the first elements of this force would be operational by the end of the year, a full year earlier than the planned launch date of October 2004.

"No one has called me in and said you should develop a global capability per se, but it clearly is something that is being discussed," Jones told reporters.

"The NRF will probably have the capability to do those things that the alliance wishes it to do and if it's going to be in different parts of the world so be it, we will build it that way."

Several NATO members are pushing for a greater role for the Alliance on the world stage, with some arguing for NATO intervention in Afghanistan and even in Iraq.

Jones said earlier this month that, if called upon, the alliance was ready to play a role in leading the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF).

Meanhile, it emerged last month that the United States was studying a radical overhaul of its military presence in Europe that would replace its large garrison force and big Cold War-era bases with rotating, expeditionary forces.

SPACE.WIRE