The week-long Baltic Defence College Operational Level Energy Security Course commenced today. The aim of this NATO Course, designed and conducted in very close cooperation and partnership with the NATO Energy Security Center of Excellence (ENSEC COE) in Vilnius, is to provide students with knowledge of the importance of energy and energy security in the current geopolitical environment and their influence on military operations.

The course lectures and activities are delivered by the ENSEC COE’s staff and their network of subject matter experts from NATO Headquarters, Bilkent University in Ankara, the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, the Military Academy of Lithuania, and the Hybrid Center of Excellence, amongst others.

Each day’s main topics are organised under NATO’s three pillars of energy security: energy security awareness, critical energy infrastructure protection, and energy efficiency in military operations.

Attending the course are student’s from the in-house Higher Command Studies Course (HCSC), Joint Command and General Staff Course (JCGSC), and Civil Servants' Course (CSC) who chose to participate in the course as an elective. They are joined by other military and civilian participants sent by NATO and partner countries.

Today, the students were fortunate to be introduced to the ENSEC COE’s significant activities along all three of the energy security pillars by the Director of the Center, Colonel Romualdas Petkevičiųs.