With a magnificent view over the Finnish Gulf and in the cosy atmosphere of Kalvi Manor the Nordic Commandants Conference 2007 was hosted by Baltic Defence College 22nd – 24th of October 2007. The Defence Colleges/Universities from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland were represented together with Baltic Defence College.

 

The Conference started with a seminar where each College/University gave their view on the topic “Leadership within the combined environment”. The presentations gave a foundation to a fruitful panel discussion at the end of the day, were many challenges of todays operational environment were discussed. The seminar was followed by the Commandants Meeting where Colonel Tony Deane from Joint Multinational Readiness Centre gave a briefing on “Joint an inter-agency training and education in the context of contemporary strategic and operational trends”. The briefing was among other things based on Colonel Deane’s own experiences from operations in Iraq and gave a very good picture of the training requirements needed before we send our officers and soldiers on today’s operations. The Commandants Meeting itself focused on how the cooperation between the five institutions can be developed even more. The Common Curriculum Working Group, which presented the conclusions on the work until now, will have the final meeting in the beginning of 2008. The overall conclusion on the meeting was that the cooperation and knowledge sharing between the five institutions will continue and be increased in the years to come. The Royal Danish Defence College will host the next Nordic Commandants Conference in October 2008 where the main topic will focus on Lessons Learned in International Operations in perspective of a small state.