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Chief of the General Staff, Croatian Armed Forces, Croatian Army General Josip Lucic, visited Headquarters, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT) January 11 for briefings and meetings with command leadership.

Discussions during Lucic’s visit included the mission, role and functions of a Regional Training Centre, Partner Nation Training and Cooperation, and Croatia’s integration into NATO.

Croatia has been a NATO member Nation since April 2009.

Major General Mieczyslaw Bieniek (left) presents a plaque
to General Josip Lucic during a visit to HQ SACT January 11.

In early December, NATO continued its cooperation with Russia by sending a Mobile Education and Training Team (METT) to Moscow to complete a series of exchange visits and seminars approved through the NATO-Russia Council (NRC).

The Allied Command Transformation (ACT) METT was led by Czech Army Major General František Maleninsky, head of the Military Cooperation Division (MCD). The METT was supported by a team from the NATO School in Germany.

Supreme Allied Command Transformation (SACT) Staff Element Europe (SEE) in Mons, Belgium hosted the “CIMIC in the Maritime Environment Experiment Seminar” on 9 December where experimenters and analysts from HQ SACT supported Alliance capability development.

"Maritime forces have always conducted CIMIC type functions but never labelled it CIMIC," said NATO Allied Command Transformation’s Experiment Lead, Operational Experimentation Branch, CDR Alexander Heinrich. Heinrich also explained that further work is required to resolve the current ambiguities that exist around the current definition of CIMIC and the term “Civil-Military Interaction (CMI)”.

Wayne Buck and Dan Berry presented representatives for the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters and Saint Mary’s Hospital in Norfolk Virginia a check for $1,000 dollars during the Headquarters’ monthly Friday Lunchtime Officer’s Gathering (FLOG) at the staff mess. Each FLOG held helps the ACT Staff Officers Mess raise money for charitable donations such as CHKD.  Another donation of $1,000 dollars was presented to the organization of The Children for Afghanistan. Additionally, last Wednesday at the SOPC luncheon the Staff Officers Mess presented a check for $3,000 to the Joy Fund to help provide Christmas gifts for local children.

The chief of French military transformation, Major General Vincent Lafontaine, visited Headquarters, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT) December 13. In the photo he is greeted by Portugal Air Force Brigadier General Luis Ruivo. Major General Lafontaine is Director for the Joint Force Centre for Concept Development, Doctrine and Experimentation (CICDE) at the French Ministry of Defence. Lafontaine received command briefings and met with ACT leadership to discuss the Comprehensive Approach and NATO/France transformation issues.

Brigadier General Luis Ruivo (right) and Lt. Col. Jack Pierquin (centre) greets Major General Vincent Lafontaine during his visit to HQ SACT December 13. Photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Sarah Langdon.

Allied Command Transformation (ACT) Deputy Chief of Staff, Joint Force Trainer, German Air Force Lieutenant General Karlheinz Viereck participated in the panel discussion titled “Building Partnership Capacity: The Whole of Nations Approach” during the 2010 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC).

“Partnership is a relationship between individuals or groups that is characterised by mutual cooperation and responsibility, as for the achievement of a specific goal,” said Viereck. “As such, NATO engages Nations, other organisations and also industry as well as academia.”

“MSG-101 is not the Introduction to Modelling and Simulation course from Old Dominion University” exclaimed Wayne Buck as he kicked off the third in a series of Modelling and Simulation (M&S) best practices workshops.

The workshops, co-chaired by Allied Command Transformation and Great Britain, are information sharing events where Nations, industry and academia meet during convenient periods at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) and ITEC to share news on how they are using M&S to support current NATO-led operations.

French Air Force General Stephane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), and Polish Army General Mieczysław Bieniek, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (DSACT) hosted Estonian Army Brigadier General Neeme Vali, Vice Chief of Defence of Estonia, for office calls and briefings with Allied Command Transformation (ACT) leadership during the Vice Chief of Defence’s visit to the Headquarters December 1.  While at the headquarters, Vali participated in roundtable discussions with ACT staff to include the command’s initiatives in Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) Mobile Training Team (MTT) and Counterinsurgency Operations (COIN).

 

General Mieczysław Bieniek meets with Estonian Army Brigadier General Neeme Vali, Vice Chief of Defence, during Vali’s visit to HQ SACT December 1. Photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Thorsten Bohlmann

SACT received high level representatives from the European missile company MBDA; amongst them the CEO, Mr. Antoine Bouvier, and the CEO of MBDA USA, Mr. Jerry Agee.

MBDA expressed a strong will to collaborate with ACT through the Framework For Collaborative Interaction (FFCI).

The representatives also met with Vice Admiral Carol Pottenger, Major General Jaap Willemse and Brigadier General Giovanni Fungo to discuss precise topics of potential collaboration such as missile defense, battle laboratories, ammunitions integration (ground based and air launched) and more.

ACT's Capability Engineering Operational Experimentation Team recently returned from Bulgaria’s PHOENIX 2010 Exercise/Experiment having appreciated the impact of ACT Operational Experimentation’s groundbreaking experimentation teamwork strategy.

French Air Force General Stéphane Abrial presented a lecture to roughly 100 students of Senior Course 117 at NATO Defence College (NDC) November 25, for the latest in a series of Eisenhower Lectures given at NDC.

The "Eisenhower Lecture" which commemorates the founder of the College, is delivered every Senior Course, and given by high level speakers who have a special knowledge of current topics of interest to the Alliance. It aims to give students insight into the experts’ view of current global issues.

Netherlands Air Force Major General Jaap Willemse, Assistant Chief of Staff for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) and NATO Network Enabled Capabilities (NNEC) hosted a group of 36 students and one staff member from the Swedish Defence College November 16 at Headquarters, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT).

“Clear Rules – Clear Game” was the central motto identified by NATO leadership during the Inaugural Resource Conference that took place in Prague November 4-5.

During the two-day panel discussions, Nations and NATO Staff expressed their views and concerns about one of the most important initiatives within NATO – “Resourcing requirements for the future of the Alliance.”

During a visit of the NATO Defense College Senior Course Fall Study Program to ACT, German Army Lieutenant General Wolf-Dieter Loeser, Commandant of the NATO Defense College and Dr. Richard D. Hooker, Dean of the NATO Defense College, conducted an office call with Polish Army Lieutenant General (Promotable) Mieczyslaw Bieniek, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation (DSACT).

United Kingdom Army General Sir Nicholas Houghton, UK Vice Chief of Defence, visited Allied Command Transformation (ACT) November 2.

Polish Army Lieutenant General (Promotable) Mieczyslaw Bieniek, new Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (DSACT), made his first official visit to Portugal October 25-29.

Royal Navy Vice Admiral Robert Cooling, Allied Command Transformation (ACT) Chief of Staff greets German Army Lieutenant General Jurgen Bornemann, Director General of the International Military Staff, during a visit to Headquarters, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT) October 28.

German Army Lieutenant General Kurt Herrmann, Director, NATO Communication Information Services Agency (NCSA), travelled to the Joint Analysis Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC) located at National Support Element (NSE) Monsanto in Lisbon to participate in the launching of a new NCSA detachment there October 19.

Hermann joined Danish Air Force Brigadier General Peter Sonneby, JALLC Commander, for an official Activation Ceremony which concluded with a “Port d’ Honour” on the future collaboration between JALLC and NSE Monsanto.

During the visit, Hermann received briefings on the role and capabilities of the JALLC and areas of common interest between the JALLC and NCSA, as well as the activities, organisation, CIS capabilities and challenges of the JALLC.

Submitted by Joint Analysis Lessons Learned Centre

French Air Force General Stephane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), hosted Ambassador Huseyin Dirioz, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning, during the ambassador’s visit to Headquarters, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT) October 26. In addition to an office call with Abrial, Dirioz met with U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Carol Pottenger, ACT’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Capability Development.

UK Royal Navy Vice Admiral Robert Cooling, Allied Command Transformation (ACT) Chief of Staff, addressed attendees for the NATO Senior Officer Policy Course during his visit to the NATO School in Oberammergau October 15.