From the 2nd to the 4th of December 2025, the NATO Security Force Assistance Centre of Excellence (NATO SFA COE) hosted the Advanced Seminar for SFA Strategic Advising within SSR at the Italian Air Force General Staff.
The aim of the seminar was to enhance the ability of civilian and military participants to provide strategic-level military guidance for NATO in the field of Security Force Assistance (SFA), with a particular focus on NATO’s Strategic Military Guidance on SFA and close cooperation with political stakeholders
After the welcome by the Director, Colonel Massimo Moncada, Professor Fabrizio Luciolli, President of the “Comitato Atlantico Italiano” within the Atlantic Treaty Association and Senior Fellow, took the floor emphasizing that SFA should be integrated in campaign design, and that it is better to build new SFA based defences forces, rather than reform the existing ones.
In accordance with the NATO doctrine, SFA activities can be provided during any phase of an operation and across the full range of military operations along the continuum of the competition, from cooperation to armed conflict. In this light, the seminar covered three macro-themes concerning SFA: Warfighting, Resilience, and Transition.
Hence, the first day was focused on analysing different aspects in conducting SFA activities in a warfighting scenario, including planning implications and considerations. With the aim of analysing how to enhance the Local Forces’ warfighting functions, in order to make them more effective against both internal, and external threats, this session focused on mapping local authorities and stakeholders, followed by an in-depth exploration of the legal framework related to Security Force Assistance (SFA).
In this context, at the end of the three days, participants explored NATO SFA capabilities carrying out a wargame on SFA in Warfighting, led by ITA Gen. (rtd.) Errico DE GAETANO, Section Head of Wargaming from SHAPE. This wargame involved participants as syndicate groups, commanded by senior ranks and commanders attending this seminar. This was the first opportunity for the COE to establish its own wargaming capabilities, which have shown to represent a significant step forward for the development of future SFA learning methodologies.
The second main topic examined the concept of resilience at various levels, beginning with an overview provided by the International Staff’s Resilience Team and a discussion on layered resilience for HQ SACT. It continued by exploring activities of the Security Assistance Group–Ukraine and NATO’s training efforts for Ukraine, leading to an analysis of Security Sector Reform (SSR) and the role of Host Nation Security Forces.
It further included lectures on SSR and SFA, along with discussions on Force Management and the professional competencies required for SFA, with specific reference to the NATO Mission in Iraq and the NATO Advising and Liaison Team in Kosovo.
The final main theme addressed the concept of transition, beginning with a lecture on processes and documents related to administrative aspects within the NMI theatre, followed by a discussion on resources. It also included an in-depth examination of NATO SFA capabilities, with a particular focus on Cross-Cutting Topics and Human Security.
At the end of each day, open discussions allowed participants to exchange views on the themes covered, fostering dialogue and the share of experiences and best practices among civilian and military attendees.
To conclude the seminar, NATO Senior Mentor LTG (retd) LOLLESGAARD, who had actively supported every session by guiding discussions and enriching them with his insights and expertise, summarized the main concepts presented during the lessons.
The seminar was further enriched by some speeches from VIP Guests. In particular, the first was Lt. Gen. OLLA, Chief of the Italian Army Validation and Innovation Centre, which underscored the need for strong military and political leadership and for advisors to understand the cultural realities of the host nations.
Furthermore, also Maj. Gen. (US) Duaine MILLER briefed on his experience as the Deputy Commanding General of the Security Assistance Group–Ukraine, stressing that successful advising creates lasting improvements and develops leaders who eventually can themselves provide feedbacks, best practices and lessons identified/learned to their advisors.
This seminar, being one of the few opportunities to gather the SFA Community of Interests at senior level, was a valuable opportunity for interaction, encouraging the audience to benefit from the vast amount of knowledge and experience present in the auditorium. It fostered discussion and created a space for insights and improvements.
At last, this collaborative atmosphere enabled us, as a Centre, to use ideas and advice for the evolution of the SFA concept.
