The Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence (CCOE), located in The Hague, Netherlands, has been a vital hub for expertise in Civil-Military Cooperation since its official accreditation on July 31, 2007. The Centre assists the Alliance and its partners with effective and interoperable civil-military cooperation through unique expertise, responsive education and training, cohesive frameworks, valuable lessons learned and future oriented experimentation.
Functioning as a hub for education, knowledge sharing, and engagement, the Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence ensures that NATO personnel are well-equipped to understand and navigate complex civil-military cooperation scenarios. Its core objective is to integrate civil factors into the operating environment, supporting the accomplishment of missions and objectives. The Centre’s comprehensive Programme of Work encompasses various areas, including Education and Training, Analysis and Lessons Learned, Concept Development, Doctrine Development, and Experimentation.
The Centre also develops training requirements and synchronizes training across the Alliance. This provides tailor-made courses for NATO Civil-Military Cooperation personnel, attracting students from NATO and Partner nations. It also acts as the Department Head for NATO for the Civil-Military Cooperation discipline, as well as Discipline Lead for Civil-Military Cooperation for the European Union.
These courses include the Field Worker/Staff Worker, Higher Command, Analysis & Assessment course, Liaison course and others. The Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence also supports the requests of the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine with the training of Ukrainian Civilian-Military Cooperation personnel.
As the custodian of the Allied Joint Publication for CIVIL-MILITARY COOPERATION (AJP 3.19) the Centre shapes further developments of Civil-Military Cooperation for NATO and its partners. The Centre initiated a “roadshow” campaign to spread the content, meaning and interpretation of the new Civil-Military Cooperation definition and the narrative behind it, which was well received by NATO commands and member states, national organizations and entities. Simultaneously, the Centre gathered experts from NATO and national Civil-Military Cooperation units to update and rewrite the well-established Civil-Military Cooperation Handbook, which is widely used by practitioners during exercises and operations.
The Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence also provides timely and comprehensive assessments on current developments related to collective security. This includes analysis regarding how Civil-Military Cooperation is taking place within the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The Centre functions as the catalyst working towards a contemporary and future environment where military and non-military actors are seamlessly integrated into military activities. This facilitates a comprehensive approach to address complex challenges in peacetime, crisis, and conflict. To this end, the Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence also executes two major events: the Annual Discipline Conference (held in June) and the Annual Civil-Military Cooperation Foresight Conference (held in October).
