On 4th December, Air Marshal Sir Graham Stacey KBE CB MA BSc CCMI, Chief of Staff to Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and his staff members paid a visit to the Baltic Defence College (BALTDFCOL).

The high-level guest was welcomed by the Commandant, Major General Andis Dilāns and the members of College Management Group followed by an office call. Air Marshal Sir Graham Stacey’s visit was the continuation to a Commandant’s visit to the Allied Command Transformation (ACT) in May 2017, where the agreement for the visit and participation as a guest speaker at the Senior Leaders’ Course 2017 was made.

Afterwards, AM Stacey together with the delegation were briefed about BALTDEFCOL mission, courses, research activities and progression towards NATO institutional accreditation. The programme for the BALTDEFCOL faculty and students of Joint Command and General Staff Course 2017/2018 continued with an amazing opportunity to listen a lecture “Keeping NATO Fit for Purpose: Challenges and Opportunities” conducted by AM Stacey. Lecture ended with a questions and answers session.

During the visit, Command Senior Enlisted Leader CMSgt Jack Johnson and College Sergeant Major SGM Peeter Einbaum had also a possibility for a discussion on initiatives under development at the NATO School, Swiss Armed Forces College, International European Air Force Academy and NATO Defence College. Within the follow-on on the discussion, possible options of cooperation were under consideration.

Air Marshal Sir Graham Stacey’s visit in the Baltic states was continued in Tallinn with a visit to the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence and to the Estonian Defence Forces.

On 5th December, AM Stacey will conduct a lecture titled “Keeping NATO’s Edge for the Foreseeable Future: Challenges and Opportunities” to the students of Senior Leaders’ Course 2017 in Riga. Visit to the Baltic states will end with the meeting with the Latvian Chief of Defence and State Secretary of Ministry of Defence of Latvia.