Graduation Ceremony of JCGSC 2009/2010 and CSC 2010

On the 18th of June 2010 the Baltic Defence College (BALTDEFCOL) graduated the students of the Joint Command and General Staff Course (JCGSC) 2009/2010 and the Civil Servants Course (CSC) 2010. The Graduation Ceremony, held in the BALTDEFCOL Main Hall was honored with the presence of representatives of the three Baltic States as well as many honorable guests from European countries who came to congratulate the graduates on this very special occasion.

Graduation speeches were delivered by the Commandant of the BALTDEFCOL BrigGen Gundars Âbols, and by the highest Baltic States representatives present at the ceremony the Minister of Defence of Estonia H.E. Mr Jaak Aaviksoo, the Undersecretary of State of Ministry of Defence of Latvia Ms Ilona Drege, and the Commandant of the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania Col Gintaras Bagdonas.

The Ceremony was opened by BrigGen Gundars Âbols who in his speech stated that “According to the Policy Paper signed by the Defence Ministers of the Baltic States in May 2010 the Joint Command and General Staff Course will be the core activity of the BALTDEFCOL. Today, we can see that the big step of launching the Joint Command and General Staff Course in 2007, the course that is unique within the context of NATO, has totally paid off.”

The two courses were attended by officers and civil servants from 18 different nations. More precisely 51 students from the JCGSC and 9 students from the CSC graduated the BALTDEFCOL in school year 2009/2010.

The Graduation Ceremony of the students of the JCGSC and the CSC was followed by ceremonial handing over of Diplomas and Graduation Badges, and student speech given by the Class Leader of the JCGSC Cpt Rene Toomse (EST A).

The official program continued with an awarding ceremony where the BALTDEFCOL Directing Staff members finishing their service at the College were awarded with the BALTDEFCOL medals for their reliable service.

The BALTDEFCOL Medal of Merit Silver was awarded for their outstanding efforts, highly professional and dedicated work to LtCol Anita Berzina, LtCol (ret) Ronald LaGrone and to LtCol Maris Tutins.

The BALTDEFCOL Medal of Merit Bronze was awarded for valuable service and remarkable support to the College to Dr James S. Corum, LtCol Gundars Rezevskis, Mr Paavo Reidla and to Mr Taivo Seppa.

The BALTDEFCOL Service Cross was awarded to LtCol Paul Indrek Rajamäe-Volmer, LtCol Maris Tutins, LtCol Gundars Rezevskis, LtCol Valerius Šerelis, LtCol Gert Agner Rasmussen, and to Dr Arunas Molis for their reliable service as members of the BALTDEFCOL Staff.

The program of the Graduation Ceremony was followed by a reception where the graduates and their family members, honorable guests and the staff members of the BALTDEFCOL could engage in informal discussions and conversations.