On the 5th of July, the Commander of the NATO Joint Force Training Centre in Bydgoszcz, Major General Norbert Wagner, accompanied by his military assistant, paid a visit to the NATO Security Force Assistance Centre of Excellence.

The JFTC, located in Bydgoszcz, plans, prepares, and executes static and distributed combined and joint training in support of warfighting readiness and is committed to warfare development through concept development and maintenance of joint doctrine and standards while coordinating the integration of experimentation, capability development, and interoperability to improve NATO’s interoperability, capabilities, and operational effectiveness.

The aim of the visit was to provide the Commander with an update and a general overview on the current and future activities of the NATO SFA COE, highlighting food for thought to stimulate further collaboration between the two Military Bodies.

In the fist part of the meeting, the Director, Col Massimo DI PIETRO, presented the Centre, the other collaborations with civil and military bodies and the SFA Framework, while in the second part the staff provided a briefing about the main projects and activities.

In particular, the proposal of a new “Assistance” Joint Function could support Commanders in facing threats with a harmonized and holistic approach, using other means to provide effective action beyond Presence and remaining below Lethal Force. The development of the above mentioned new joint function – grouping together and synchronizing all the instruments developed by NATO to provide its partner Nations and Host Nations with assistance in developing their capabilities – can boost the achievement of two of NATO’s strategic ends: Defence and Deterrence and Projecting Stability.

At the end of the meeting the M.G. Norbert Wagner expressed his appreciation for the high profile and the ambition of the projects, stating that it was a great opportunity to share information and discuss International Security Force Assistance, training, exercises and missions.