JCGSC Case Study Trip to Saaremaa

On 24 – 26 October 2011 the Baltic Defence College’s Joint Command General Staff Course (JCGSC) visited Saaremaa and Muhumaa to conduct their case study on Operation Albion, the German amphibious landing in October 1917.

Saaremaa’s Sõrve Peninsula controlled the western entrance to the Gulf of Riga and thus it was of great strategic and operational importance during the First World War. Operation Albion has been widely studied in staff colleges and by various militaries including the US Marines and US Army, Germans, Soviets, Japanese, British and Estonians as it is perhaps the first modern truly joint operation and a good example of maneuver warfare. The trip took place a week after the 94th anniversary of the operation however, the weather was substantially better than it was in 1917.

The JCGSC’s visit also included a hosted dinner and a tour of the Bishop’s Castle in Kuressaare which contains the Saaremaa historical museum.