Civil Servants Course 2013 Begins

On the 7th January 2013, the Baltic Defence College ushered in the tenth Civil Servants’ Course (CSC). The new Course, designed to enhance the civil-military skills of its participants, featured five Civil Servants representing the security institutions of each of the Baltic States.

Since its inception, the Course has undergone continuous development. Early on, the Baltic Defence College recognised that modern conflicts required a comprehensive approach to address contemporary security challenges. To this end, this year’s Civil Servants will be fully integrated into the Joint Command and General Staff Course (JCGSC) curriculum. The purpose of this integration is to enhance the Civil Servants’ ability to work together with their military counterparts and to contribute to the planning of military and non-military operations.

Major Sandris Gaugers, a Latvian Army Officer, emphasised the value of this integration saying: ‘Contemporary operations require more than just a military approach to the problem. They require a complex combination of military and civilian solutions to address the full spectrum of challenges. The integration of both the Civil Servant Course and Joint Command and General Staff Course gives an enormous advantage for participants to learn from each other in an academic environment rather than in the field...where it could be too late.’ Mr Jaano Vija, a Civil Servant from the Estonian Ministry of Defence, echoed: ‘By the end of the Course, we would like to understand and speak the same language as military officers do.’

The Baltic Defence College welcomes Andres Ideon, Liana Naujalytė, Jaano Vija, Marius Alekna and Anda Mende and wishes them a fruitful academic experience.