In a letter sent to NATO member nations in November 2010, ACT requested inputs regarding NATO and/or national Concept Development and Experimentation (CD&E). One of the national requests that came back was from Poland, asking for support in building Poland’s national CD capabilities in the newly formed Doctrine and Training Centre (DTC) of the Polish Armed Forces in Bydgoszcz.

In response, ACT decided to establish a Mobile Training Team to be sent to Poland to conduct the NATO CD&E Orientation Course for 46 students at the DTC of the Polish Armed Forces.

The course was conducted 16-19 MAY 2011 in the new DTC facility in Bydgoszcz. The Mobile Training Team was supported by the host nation that provided the facility, a course director, and the needed admin support.

The aim of the course was “to familiarize participants with NATO’s CD&E structure, process and
procedures”. To keep NATO educational standards and relevance, the course was based upon the CD&E Orientation Course normally conducted 2 times a year at the NATO School in Oberammergau Germany. The course provided a vital foundation for the Polish DTC and the Polish Armed Forces who are building up a CD&E capability. Furthermore, it supplied a good venue for networking between internal Polish entities and ACT CD&E.

The students were officers and civilians ranking from Major General (retired) down to Army Captain or civilian equivalent from all over the Polish Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense and all services linked to CD&E in Poland. In addition, the course had one student from JFTC. The results of the surveys underpin that the course was highly appreciated and that the objectives were met.

Subtitle: What will the future bring?

The NATO CD&E Orientation Course is a young one, first conducted in 2008 at the NATO School, but is constantly overfilled and cannot keep up with the demand from nations and NATO entities. According to the student feedback from the school, the course meets the nations’ expectations and is one of the most appreciated training events around.

Based upon the recent experience from Poland, it has been suggested that ACT should set up a regional course inviting nations representing a specific geographical region.

It would be a huge task and would it be worth it? We believe so, because if we have strong CD&E communities in the nations, ACT will in the future have a lot of “partners”. These can then in turn support each other and thereby help transforming NATO and it’s nations in a more efficient and effective way, leading to new and better future capabilities.

In a long-term perspective, supporting nations in building their own CD&E capabilities will pay off.