Educational Requirements Seminar held on 17th-18th October

on Baltic Defence College in close cooperation with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania organized an Educational Requirements Seminar in Vilnius, Lithuania on 17th and 18th October 2016. The event was organized with the kind assistance of Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence and Lithuanian Armed Forces.

The aim of this meeting was to refine the educational requirements the nations have towards the Baltic Defence College. The delegations were headed by Major General Vitalijus Vaikšnoras, Chief of the Lithuanian Joint Headquarters; Brigadier General Indrek Sirel, Estonian Deputy Chief of Defence, and Colonel Normunds Aleksis, Chief of Personnel Planning and Development Department of the Latvian Ministry of Defence. The delegations included subject-matter experts from three Baltic Nations and the Directors of Courses and Departments of the Baltic Defence College.

The Baltic Defence College delegation, headed by the Commandant Major General Andis Dilāns, provided detailed information on the Joint Command and General Staff Course as well as on the Civil Servants Course. Educational framework of the courses along with aims and learning outcomes were presented to the nations. The event offered a forum for the national military leaders to gather and define what kind of an officer they envision entering their force structure after graduating from the Joint Command and General Staff Course.

Besides hard work the seminar enabled the commanders to interact in an informal environment, further tightening the already strong relations between the nations and the college.
The participants’ immediate reaction upon the conclusion of the event were very positive and the event will be organized regularly in the future, with potentially biennial meetings taking place between joint and service commanders and the Commandant of the Baltic Defence College on refining educational requirements.

The Baltic Defence College appreciates the valuable inputs provided by the nations. The detailed discussions demonstrated the willingness to cooperate and improve the educational output. The Baltic Defence College will continue to refine the education to maintain relevancy for the Wider Baltic region.