NATO

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STAVANGER, Norway – Rear Admiral Jan C. Kaack, Commander Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), and other NATO senior military leaders in the ETEE domain, participated in the inaugural meeting of the new NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Academy Board on November 23, 2020.

The NCI Academy Board, where the JWC sits as a permanent member, was established to improve collaboration and cooperation for collective and individual training and exercise support for NATO Command Structure, NATO Force Structure and the Nations.

In his address, Rear Admiral Kaack underlined that the board will help synchronize and optimize collective and individual training efforts for Allies and Partners to cope with the growing complexity in NATO exercises.

“This is a great opportunity. The Academy’s motto, ‘Smart training for smart defence’ is something that we, at the JWC, are definitely aiming for to become more agile in approaching the many challenges ahead of us,” Rear Admiral Kaack said.

Rear Admiral Kaack added: “In early spring, we established a Fit-for-Future project at the JWC, based on our Vision 2025, focusing on enhancing agility and empowering our people. We are now reviewing our processes and fully embracing the innovation mind-set, while actively pursuing opportunities to collaborate and cooperate with key partners – such as the NCI Academy.”
 

Rear Admiral Kaack and Lieutenant Colonel Heumueller


JWC and NCI Academy agree to develop a joint roadmap

Lieutenant Colonel Dieter Heumueller, JWC’s Head of the Information Management, Command, Control, Consultation, and Computer Planning Branch (IM/C4), noted that the NCI Academy Board was scheduled to meet bi-annually, with the core purpose to “support the decision-making process for communication and information systems  education and training, as well as to support key capability development concepts in the ETEE domain.”

He said: “Rear Admiral Kaack and Dr Garry Hargreaves, the new Director of the NCI Academy, agreed to develop a joint roadmap to improve areas of special interest in ETEE domain for the JWC.”

This innovation-based collaboration is significant as virtual capability development and tailored training concepts that support distributed training and exercises are imperative to cope with NATO’s future requirements, especially at the Major Joint Operations-Plus level, according to Heumueller.

Commander JWC, Rear Admiral Kaack was clear in his expectations towards NCI Agency General Manager and the other senior leaders for the future:

“We will have achieved the overall aim if we stay focused in our common goal to find synergies, innovative solutions, and, ultimately, to get things done. I see a lot of value in this initiative across the NATO ETEE enterprise.”

The next board meeting will take place in Portugal next year.