On the 29th of May, the first 2025 session of the Steering Committee Meeting of the NATO Security Force Assistance Centre of Excellence (NATO SFA COE) was held.
Participants included representatives from the Sponsoring Nations and Contributing Participant, along with the new Albanian Military Defence Attaché and a representative from Allied Command Transformation, who attended as observers.
Following the Chairman’s welcome and the official approval of the agenda, the Director expressed gratitude to all attendees and provided updates on the Centre’s most relevant activities. He emphasized that the Centre remains fully committed to supporting the Alliance in its transformation and to enhancing awareness of the invaluable contribution that SFA represents in addressing the new challenges of current global security scenarios.
Afterwards, the staff of the COE presented the status of the ongoing projects for the current year, and the main activities planned for 2026, illustrating the related financial planning.
Among the relevant projects:
- the new proposal for quantitative Capability Codes and Capability Statements that can serve as the NATO reference for all member Nations to build national SFA capability in order to fill the recognized gap and enable them to present their SFA capability in the NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP);
- support to the SHAPE Partnership Directorate, as the Requirement Authority, and the FINCENT as the Department Head, in defining a tailored training solution focused on educating new personnel responsible for Capacity Building at JFCs;
- a new analysis report aimed at exploring the relevance of cultural dissimilarities in advisors’ daily work, including the implementation of gender perspective;
- progress made toward achieving NATO Quality Assurance by the end of the current year.
Moreover, the Director emphasized the importance of enhancing the information campaign aimed at boosting the Centre’s visibility and expanding the COI.
To further support this initiative, he announced the appointment of a new role, the Command Senior Enlisted Leader (CSEL), who will support the Director and staff in improving effectiveness and promoting the NATO SFA COE’s image across NATO at dedicated events.
Finally, the representative from Allied Command Transformation highlighted the importance of the information campaign, noting that the CSEL appointment could help promote it, and remarked that the Centre’s initiatives align with ACT’s priorities.
